Stefan Berger, a member of the European Parliament responsible for developing MiCA regulations, confirmed that  The ECON/ European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs has rejected a possible ban on bitcoin in the EU,  Suggestions for PoW/ proof-of-work consensus protocols such as ETH.  

"By accepting my proposal, members have prepared the ground for future-oriented cryptocurrency regulation.  Now it's just a matter of accepting the whole report and sending a strong signal of innovation when the final vote is taken, "Berger tweeted.  

Other players in the cryptocurrency industry confirmed the news:  

The committee's latest vote will now allow a full vote in parliament.  

After the message is received, BTC and ETH remain within the normal range.  At 17:10 UTC (March 14), BTC was trading at $38,763, little changed on the day, while ETH was trading at $2,551, down 1% on the day.  

Thirty MEPs voted against the controversial proposal, according to an breakdown of the votes obtained by Patrick Hansen, director of strategy and growth at Unstoppable Finance, a developer at DeFi Wallet,  The proposal could in effect ban cryptocurrency assets based on PoW in the EU, while 23 MEPs backed the measure.  But the latest development showed that the vast majority of lawmakers from the centre-right EPP/ European People's Party, the largest group in parliament, opposed the controversial measure.  Of this group, 14 EPP committee members voted against a possible PoW ban and only one MP supported it.  

Meanwhile, the socialists and Democrats, the second largest groups in parliament, backed the possible ban, with all 13 committee members voting in favor.  

"Just mining Bitcoin itself consumes more energy than a country the size of Austria or Portugal.  The proposal, drafted by the Socialists, Democrats and Greens, would empower the commission to pass a mandate to define minimum environmental sustainability standards, as the consensus mechanism used to verify crypto asset transactions was voted down by conservatives and liberals, with far-right identity groups also supporting the no vote.  The Socialist and Democratic parties abstained in the final vote, "the group said in a statement.  (Learn more: Bitcoin Mining co2 Emissions less than 0.08% of global total - CoinShares)  

The center-left lawmakers were backed by the Green Party and far-left MEPs, while liberal, conservative and far-right MEPs voted alongside EPP lawmakers who voiced opposition to a possible PoW ban.  Six MEPs abstained from voting on the controversial amendment.  

Under the EU's complex legislative process, the Council, made up of ministers from the 27 member states, and the European Parliament, the only eu institution directly elected by the 27 member states, negotiated the so-called MiCA proposal in a trilogy.  

The proposed environmental standards have reportedly sparked opposition from many players in the cryptocurrency industry.