The European Parliament postponed the vote on the final MiCA Law Draft for March 14th due to strong opposition from bitcoiners. The bill aims to include cryptocurrencies in compliance with the Sustainable Financial Taxonomy of the EU.
After postponing the vote on the Regulation on Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) for two weeks, the European Parliament set it for March 14th. They would initially discuss the law on February 28th, but the Bitcoin community expressed strong opposition, as it implied a de facto ban on Bitcoin.
European congressman Stefan Berger stated that the law draft did not include the environmental clause to outlaw cryptocurrencies based on proof-of-work (PoW) mining. He announced they did not plan an independent discussion on Proof of Work for the MiCA regulation any longer.
The parliamentarian suggested talking about cryptocurrencies in the context of another environmental regulation, known as Sustainable Financial Taxonomy. Given the significant debate, he considers that the Taxonomy could provide clarity and guarantee a better information base for consumers.
Implications of the Sustainable Financial Taxonomy Regulation
The EU Taxonomy regulation sets the criteria to rate an economic activity or investment as environmentally sustainable. That evaluation depends on how it contributes to the environmental objectives of the European Union.
That regulation would imply that Bitcoin trading or mining must prove that they contribute substantially to at least one of the six environmental objectives. Besides, those activities cannot considerably damage the other five and must comply with minimum social guarantees to appear in the Taxonomy.
The environmental objectives stated in the regulation are mitigation of climate change, adaptation to climate change, sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources, transition to a circular economy, pollution prevention and control, and recovery of biodiversity and ecosystems.
In early 2022, the European Commission used the above criteria to rate nuclear power and natural gas as environmentally sustainable. It is relevant to mention that a growing number of Bitcoin mining farms operate with green energy.
European Congressman Stefan Burger Expects His Colleagues to Support the MiCA Law
Stefan Berger reported that the MiCA Law Draft has been available to European congresspeople since March 7th. Since he believes that the bill can become a global standard, he urged his colleagues in Parliament to vote on the legal text.
If the EU Parliament expresses strong support for the MiCA regulation, that is a signal for a technologically-neutral and innovation-friendly financial sector.
The European Parliament has been working on the MiCA Law Draft for about two years. Its goals include creating a committee to manage the cryptocurrency market in the 27 countries of the European Union. The bill would seek a framework to supervise and sanction risky cryptocurrencies like stablecoins.
Some experts questioned that the approach of the MiCA regulation tends to establish laws similar to those governing the traditional stock market. For that reason, they said that the products and services emerging in the cryptocurrency market have to follow different principles.
Decentralized cryptocurrencies have become increasingly relevant in the economy, and regulators are aware of that. Many want to control or ban the activities based on those digital assets, arguing that they are risky and harm the environment.
By Alexander Salazar
