On-Prem

Networks

Sweden asks EU to ban Bitcoin mining because while hydroelectric power is cheap, they need it for other stuff

Lighting and warming homes in winter, or ransoming encrypted files and buying drugs? Hmmm


The directors general of Sweden's Financial Supervisory Authority and Environmental Protection Agency have called upon both the EU and Sweden's government to ban cryptocurrency mining.

Kungstradgarden in Stockholm, Sweden

Since China banned Bitcoin ­(again), wannabe get-rich-quick artists have been looking for somewhere else to squander squillions of megawatt-hours minting imaginary internet money.

Cheap hydroelectric power makes the Nordics tempting, with Sweden alone using 1TWh on it last year, but they would rather keep it for other uses than ransoming encrypted files and buying illegal drugs. Some will doubtless call that selfish and short-sighted of them.

In an open letter to the EU, Erik Thedéen, director general of Finansinspektionen, and Björn Risinger, director general of Naturvårdsverket – the Financial Supervisory Authority and Environmental Protection Agency, respectively – call upon the EU and the Swedish government to ban energy-intensive cryptocurrency mining, and to legally prevent anyone doing it from calling it eco-friendly.

They point out that "Sweden needs the renewable energy targeted by crypto-asset producers for the climate transition of our essential services."

That all seems reasonable enough to us, and we also note that it gets very cold in winter up around those parts. If it happens, we wouldn't be surprised to see Norway and Iceland follow suit. ®

Send us news
160 Comments

Illicit crypto-miners pouncing on lazy DevOps configs that leave clouds vulnerable

To stop the JINX-0132 gang behind these attacks, pay attention to HashiCorp, Docker, and Gitea security settings

Feds gut host behind pig butchering scams that bilked $200M from Americans

Philippines company allegedly run by Chinese national has form running scams

DOGE worker's old creds found exposed in infostealer malware dumps

PLUS: Celsius scammer sent to slammer; Death-by-hacking victim warns you're never safe; and more

RSA cofounder: The world would've been better without cryptocurrencies

Cryptographers' panel a bit gloomy this year

Crypto takes a dip as Trump signs Bitcoin Reserve order

With no allowance to sell and little room to buy, and markets on the slide, it's UB40 time: Red, red, whine

Bank of England flirts with offline digital dosh

No signal? No problem. But also no solid commitment to Britcoin yet

Is Washington losing its grip on crypto, or is it a calculated pivot to digital dominance?

It's been a very busy week for Digicash Donald's administration

Man who binned 7,500 Bitcoin drive now wants to buy entire landfill to dig it up

More than a decade on, waste experts say the odds of finding those coins are next to nil

FCC stands up Council on National Security to fight China in ways that CISA used to

PLUS: Alleged Garantex admin arrested in India; Google deletes more North Korean malware

Bitcoin creator suspect says he is not Bitcoin creator suspect

'If I was Satoshi I would have destroyed my ability to prove I'm Satoshi'

FBI officially fingers North Korea for $1.5B Bybit crypto-burglary

Federal agents, open up ... your browsers and see if you recognize any of these wallets

Bybit declares war on North Korea's Lazarus crime-ring to regain $1.5B stolen from wallet

Up to $140M in bounty rewards for return of Ethereum allegedly pilfered by hermit nation