‘A De Facto Ban’ – Serious Bitcoin Warning Issued As Price Crash Hits Ethereum, BNB, XRP, Luna, Solana, Cardano And Avalanche

Bitcoin

BTC
Ethereum and other major cryptocurrencies have fallen sharply this week as a broad asset price crash crushes markets (despite the CEO of Coinbase making a huge crypto prediction).

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Bitcoin price has lost around 10% in the past few days, crashing to levels not seen since January. Ethereum and its biggest rivals BNB

BNB
solana, cardano and avalanche plunged, with Ripple’s XRP

XRP
and Terra’s luna also plummets, wiping over $100 billion from the combined crypto market.

Ahead of the bitcoin and crypto price crash, the chief strategy officer of $5 billion crypto asset manager CoinShares, Meltem Demirors, warned that governments will try to ban bitcoin and other crypto -currencies.

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“What we’re seeing around the world, what really worries me, is using the proof-of-work attack, and in particular, bitcoin’s energy consumption, as a way to implement a de facto ban on bitcoin without saying so. “, said Demirors, speaking at the Crypto Bahamas conference, reported by Initiated.

Proof of work is the name of bitcoin’s decentralized consensus mechanism that allows so-called bitcoin miners to secure the network and validate transactions in exchange for new coins. Some newer cryptocurrencies, such as Ethereum rivals solana and cardano, have adopted a less energy-intensive consensus mechanism called proof-of-stake. Ethereum is trying to move to proof-of-stake to better scale and reduce its carbon footprint.

Bitcoin, by far the largest cryptocurrency by value, has been widely criticized for its exorbitant energy requirements, with some estimates consuming as much electricity per year as some smaller countries.

In recent years, as the surge in the price of bitcoin has caused an influx of miners, lawmakers and regulators around the world have begun to debate whether to ban cryptocurrency mining with proof of work. Last year, a crypto crackdown in China led to a mass exodus of miners from the country, many of whom moved to the United States and Europe.

“Governments are going to try to ban bitcoin, they’re going to try to attack bitcoin because it’s really hard to do otherwise,” Demirors said.

This week, New York State moved closer to an effective ban on bitcoin mining with a bill calling for a two-year moratorium on proof-of-work cryptocurrency mining operations, unless the company uses 100% renewable energy and until the state can complete an impact study progressing to the National Assembly.

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Last month, leaked European Union documents revealed the extent of anti-bitcoin sentiment among EU officials and their desire to “protect” the likes of Ethereum. Earlier, environmental activist organization Greenpeace launched a lobbying campaign, funded by billionaire co-founder of XRP developer Ripple, urging the bitcoin community to consider switching to proof-of-stake.

“A lot of information [lawmakers are] getting is from other protocols pushing for it,” Demirors added.

Speaking alongside Demirors, Elizabeth Stark, managing director of bitcoin payments developer Lighting Labs, echoed her concerns. “I believe there are a lot of players intentionally trying to attack bitcoin because there is no CEO,” Stark said.