The Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) price is up 1.6% since this time yesterday.
The world's first digital token is currently trading for US$38,797 (AU$53,998). That gives it a market cap of just over US$736 billion.
The muted reaction of the Bitcoin price to the European Union's voting down of banning proof of work (PoW) crypto mining may come as a surprise to some enthusiasts.
How the EU vote could have impacted the Bitcoin price
As Euro News reported, yesterday (overnight Aussie time) the European parliament's economic and monetary affairs committee voted down a last-minute amendment to its draft Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) legislation.
That amendment would have all but banned the type of PoW mining activity that Bitcoin relies on.
When China banned crypto mining last year, the Bitcoin price fell more than 45% between May and August. Prices then recovered into November when Bitcoin reached all-time highs.
The global annual energy use of Bitcoin mining using PoW is approaching the annual energy use of all of Australia. And in sustainable focused Europe, that's been drawing some heat amongst legislators.
Still the amendment failed to make it onto the draft crypto regulation legislation, which passed on to the next stage without the PoW mining ban.
What the industry insiders have been saying
eToro's crypto expert Simon Peters warned of "huge" implications if the amendment were to pass.
The bill would have required "miners to submit environmental sustainability compliance plans. Failing to submit them would prevent their operation within the EU. The implications of this are huge – the EU is a major jurisdiction for crypto mining and crypto more generally, with over 10% of global bitcoin hash power emanating from the region," Peters said.
While not turbocharging the Bitcoin price today, the failed passage of the amendment will come as welcome news to many crypto enthusiasts, including those at crypto wallet provider Ledger.
Prior to the vote, the company said (quoted by Euro News):
Individuals and organisations should be free to choose the technology most appropriate to their needs. Policymakers should neither impose nor discriminate in favour of a particular technology. This is deeply concerning and would have serious consequences for Europe.
