This petition was submitted during the 2019-2024 parliament
Rejected petition Ban the mining of and trade in "proof of work" cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin are all popular cryptocurrencies which use proof of work to secure transactions. Proof of work is incredibly wasteful: current estimates suggest that it currently uses around 0.5% of the world's electricity. We cannot afford this waste if we want to reach net zero.
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The computers used to mine Bitcoin are specialised, can't be repurposed and rapidly become obsolete. This generates a lot of electronic waste. Recent estimates have concluded that mining operations consume 4% of specialised semiconductor manufacturing and 20% of all graphics card sales.
A ban on proof of work based cryptocurrencies, would not be a full ban on cryptocurrencies but would instead incentivise them to move to more environmentally friendly mining algorithms such as proof of stake.
This petition was rejected
Why was this petition rejected?
It’s about something that the UK Government or Parliament is not directly responsible for.
Petitions must call for a specific action that the UK Government or Parliament are directly responsible for.
The Government is not responsible for whether individuals or businesses choose to mine for cryptocurrency. This is a matter for individuals or businesses to decide.
We could accept a petition calling on the Government to prohibit transactions in cryptocurrencies in the UK, as this is something the Government is responsible for.
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.