The Norwegian Parliament had a vote that favored Bitcoin mining activities.
Since November of last year, the Norwegian administration has been analyzing the possibility of blocking Bitcoin mining activities. The country’s local government and regional development minister, Bjørn Arild Gram, had highlighted earlier that month that the Scandinavian region was thinking about possible procedures to handle challenges linked to crypto mining. It is hard to justify the excessive use of renewable energy to carry out activities such as bitcoin mining.
Then, in March, the Red Party had proposed legislation to Parliament that would ban Bitcoin mining. This proposal was a subject of study. But a few days ago, the Norwegian Parliament voted against the proposal banning mining activities in the crypto sector.
According to a report issued by CoinTelegraph, the proposal got rejected by a parliamentary vote. The ban garnered no political support outside of members of the Socialist Left Party, the Red Party, and the Green Party of Norway and ultimately got taken down.
Disappointments
Sofie Marhaug of the Red Party expressed her disappointment about the majority vote and said that her party would work harder to win the support of citizens in the short term. She highlighted that the nation must “prioritize” the responsible use of energy sources, aiming their critics against the energy-intensive use of mining in the crypto sector and the negative impact on climate change.
Jaran Mellerud, an expert working at Arcane Research, told Cointelegraph that the vote meant a decisive victory for large-scale Bitcoin mining:
According to the analyst, these political parties will probably try to raise the energy tax specifically for miners, which is now the only thing left on their schedule to make operations harder for bitcoin miners.
Mellerud explained that political parties showing hostility to Bitcoin have been trying to force miners out of Norway through the execution of a higher energy tax rate. She called the government’s decision to nullify the proposal the final nail in the coffin for attempts to free Norway from the crypto space.
Green Mining Heaven
The report also shows that Norway represents a “green oasis” for Bitcoin mining, with abundant hydropower and cheap energy costs. According to a world report led by the University of Cambridge, Norwegian miners contribute just 0.7% to the global hash rate of Bitcoin. According to the media, a considerable part of the energy they implement is entirely renewable.
Norwegian miners’ contribution to world mining is minimal compared to other European nations. Germany brings 3% of the hash rate and Ireland 1.9%. However, it is much more prominent than other European regions that barely give 0.2% or less.
But the overall contribution of the entire old continent is negligible if we compare it with the United States of America, which gives 37.84%, or China, with 21.11%.
By: Jenson Nuñez
