The outrage from the crypto world has caused the EU parliament to delay a crucial vote in its highly expected crypto market regulatory policy. The mica (markets in the crypto-assets directive) was scheduled to hold its vote this coming Monday.
Why The Vote Is Delayed
The conclusion of the vote will lead to a negotiation between the European Parliament (the European Commission and the European Union council), who would then discuss any alteration to the regulation. But, a registrar in charge of the vote and head of the economics committee, Stefan Berger, announced a postponement of the meeting via his official channels today.
An inside source revealed that the leading cause of the postponement was some slight changes that needed to be made to the regulation. Some opine that the excessive energy consumption for mining the tokens of proof of work blockchains was one of the significant factors Berger considered before announcing the postponement.
The inside source further revealed that the parliament would vote on a ban on pow networks because of their vast energy consumption. However, most members ceased their support to amend the regulation following social media backlash when a copy of the rule leaked to the social space.
Berger tweeted about the development, saying, “as the registrar, it is important that I clarify that the mica directive doesn’t constitute any ban on BTC mining in any way.” This year is the third year that there have been ongoing discussions regarding the regulation.
The Crypto Industry Players Don’t Mind The Delay
Part of the last draft issued by the European Parliament (which is yet to be updated) reads thus: “The consensus mechanisms must utilize environmentally-friendly solutions. Hence, we suggest that the commission identify any consensus mechanisms that can negatively impact the environment.”
The draft continued, “factors that they need to consider include incentive structures, energy consumption, electronic waste, destruction of essential resources and carbon emissions. Any consensus mechanisms that fit into the above should be deployed on a reduced scale.”
Most crypto players aren’t bothered by the delay. Seth Hertlein (head of policy for Ledger (a crypto wallet manufacturer)) stated that “until critical issues about the bill are resolved, the best decision is to postpone the vote.” He added that “getting mica right will determine Europe’s financial competitiveness over the long-term.” However, Unstoppable Finance’s head of growth and strategy, Patrick Hansen, remarked that the “parliament needs to also publicly disclose how long it will take to complete the process.”
Recovering Crypto Market
The crypto market is gradually recovering from the intense sell-offs that occurred yesterday following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The overall evaluation of the market has hit $1.76 Tr., indicating about a 10.5% increase. However, its daily trade volume declined by 4.22% and is now $119.55B.
Coinmarketcap data indicates that the stablecoin industry accounted for nearly 86% of the total daily trade volume, while the DeFi sector accounted for the remaining daily trade volume. As of this writing, BTC currently trades at $39.35K, while ETH trades at $2.73K.
