Norway considers Bitcoin mining ban as Laos embraces it

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Countries continue to fight cryptocurrency mining in different ways.

Norway – which was part of a group of popular destinations amid China’s mining exodus – is considering supporting a European ban on Bitcoin mining, as reported by Euronews Next.

The country’s Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Bjørn Arild Gram, told local media that the Scandinavian nation is considering potential policy measures to “address the challenges of crypto mining” and that it is “Difficult to justify the intensive use of renewable energies today”.

Gram said the government was considering a proposal from some Swedish regulators urging Europe to ban energy-intensive cryptocurrency mining activities.

Meanwhile, in Southeast Asia, a debt-ridden country is looking to take advantage of the industry amid the ongoing crackdown in China by issuing new regulations on cryptocurrency mining and trading.

Laos’ Minister of Technology and Communications issued a notice earlier this month to regulate crypto miners and trading platforms, as local media reported The Laotian Times.

The notice stated that these companies should be fully Laos-owned and financially stable while having sufficient capital to operate. In addition, companies are required to deposit US $ 5 million in the Bank of Laos as a security deposit, according to the report.

For mining companies, the authority said mining operations are expected to use at least 10 megawatts of electricity under a six-year extendable contract with the country’s electricity supplier, local media reported.

The new regulations also offered benefits to crypto miners. He said the government will exempt electricity transmission and import charges for mining operations.

Laos’ new rules for the crypto industry come after the Southeast Asian nation in September authorized six companies to trade and mine cryptocurrencies, ending a ban imposed in 2018, according to an opinion of the Prime Minister’s office.

World Bank data shows that Laos is among the poorest countries in the region after Myanmar and Cambodia. In 2020, the country recorded US $ 2,630 in gross domestic product per capita, according to the data.

The nation has strived to strengthen the economy with its abundant hydropower resources, aiming to become the “Southeast Asian Battery” by building hydropower dams on the Mekong River.

A document from the US Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration shows that in practice, the Lao economy is heavily dollarized, and foreign currencies – such as the Thai baht, the US dollar and the Chinese yuan – are frequently used for private transactions involving imported goods.

In addition to giving the crypto industry the green light, Laos’ central bank is also exploring the possibility of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), as it enlisted in October Soramitsu, a blockchain company whose headquarters is in Tokyo, to study the matter.

In the meantime, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty has climbed to its highest level before China’s crackdown on mining and the crypto crash that followed in May.

The level of difficulty – a measure of how hard a miner would have to work to verify transactions on the block, or “mine” Bitcoin – last week saw an increase of 4.69%, the ninth consecutive increase, after four consecutive declines since May, according to data from BTC.com.

However, a slight drop is expected for the next adjustment which is expected to occur later this week.

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