The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON), a committee of the European Parliament, voted against a de facto Bitcoin ban.
Patrick Hansen, head of growth and strategy at DeFi project Unstoppable, stated that Parliament rejected the bill by a vote of 32 to 34.
The majority of MPs from the European People’s Party (EPP), European Conservatives and Reformists (ERC), Renew Europe (Renew) and Identity and Democracy (ID) rejected the provision restricting the proof-of-work algorithm. The Greens, Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and the Left in the European Parliament (GUE/NGL) expectedly supported the ban.
The potential Bitcoin ban caused a huge backlash in the industry. David Marcus, one of the former directors of Meta, said that such a ban would have a “catastrophic” effect.
Hansen says the EU’s crypto community has become a “strong force”