Digitalization

When the final compromise proposals of the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCAR) were published for the vote in the responsible Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) last week, the crypto market was suddenly thunderstruck: the new draft provides for a ban on crypto services related to the use of environmentally unsustainable consensus mechanisms such as Proof of Work (PoW) from 1 January 2025 – that is, also for trading Bitcoin or Ether. Could this see Bitcoin being banned in Europe? Discussions continue about the regulation of environmentally unsustainable consensus mechanisms.

As one of the international go-to law firms for digitization and digital transformation Osborne Clarke has already been participating in the Blockchance Confernce in previous years. Also in 2021, Osborne Clarke will attend the Blockchance Conference, Germany's leading blockchain conference, from 2 - 4 December 2021 with our expert lawyers from OC UK, OC Italy and OC Germany.