A proposed rule that could have, in effect, banned the popular cryptocurrency bitcoin across the European Union (EU) has been quashed.
The European Parliament’s economic and monetary affairs committee voted on Monday to keep the provision out of a draft of the proposed Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) framework, the EU’s comprehensive regulatory package for governing digital assets.
The provision, which was added to the draft last week, sought to limit the use of cryptocurrencies powered by an energy-intensive computing process known as proof-of-work across the EU’s 27 member states. The proposal met with a heavy backlash from crypto advocates worldwide.
Stefan Berger, a member of the EU Parliament and rapporteur of MiCA, tweeted the success: "First stage win at #MiCA in committee! By accepting my proposal, members have paved the way for future-oriented crypto regulation. It is now a matter of accepting the report as a whole in the final vote & sending out a strong signal for innovation."
