<p>Those questions have been answered multiple times.</p>

<p>The difficulty depends on the mining power. If there is a regulation and 60% of the miners are away, the difficulty would decrease drasticly within 2 weeks and the other 40% would need less power to mines the blocks. So the mining would not be hampered for a long time.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Would BTC survive with only minor mining going on?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>yes. Only a few people could still mine. The bitcoin network does not really need big mining-pool companies for that.</p>

<p>And you third question is a primarily opinion-based.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-18T23:27:13.380Z
So, in a sense, energy regulations might actually be a good thing for the environment but not a bad thing for Bitcoin? Should we embrace BTC mining energy regulations? (In case we are not miners that is).
JohnyTex
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-19T13:05:25.107Z
Bitcoin needs much energy, but the really bad thing is the energy production and how the energy production works in my opinion. There are completly green miners in Ireland who using renewable energies but there are also the other ones.
hardfork
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-19T16:17:01.743Z
Why does it need much energy if we don't really need to mine to keep transactions going?
JohnyTex
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-18T22:12:37.350Z
2018-01-18T22:12:37.350Z
hardfork
<p>Can Bitcoin be "shutdown" or heavily hampered if energy consumption for mining is heavily regulated? Can transactions still be processed if mining for new coins is hampered? I am thinking it would be easy to detect illegal mining just like they detect illegal drug-plant farms from the massive use of energy used to power the solar lights. Would BTC survive with only minor mining going on?</p>

<p>It is quite obvious that if BTC will start to consume more energy than USA than people might be, if nothing else, a bit concerned about the environmental effects.</p>

<p>If BTC won't survive, has Ethereum with the future proof-of-stake concept a better chance of surviving government clamp-down?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-19T23:33:35.393Z
Basic understanding - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hashcash
ArtisticPhoenix
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-10-28T16:29:56.840Z
Well, regulating mining cannot do it, but if the energy usage goes way up because of rising prices, they could be brought down by outlawing it's commercial usage as long it's PoW based, as the [EU already considered](https://beincrypto-com.webpkgcache.com/doc/-/s/beincrypto.com/european-commission-rejects-proof-of-work-ban/)
Dr. Hans-Peter Störr
<legal><energy-consumption><government><regulation>
Can Bitcoin be "shutdown" if energy consumption for mining is heavily regulated?
JohnyTex
# Can Bitcoin be "shutdown" if energy consumption for mining is heavily regulated?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-01-18)

Can Bitcoin be "shutdown" or heavily hampered if energy consumption for mining is heavily regulated? Can transactions still be processed if mining for new coins is hampered? I am thinking it would be easy to detect illegal mining just like they detect illegal drug-plant farms from the massive use of energy used to power the solar lights. Would BTC survive with only minor mining going on?

It is quite obvious that if BTC will start to consume more energy than USA than people might be, if nothing else, a bit concerned about the environmental effects.

If BTC won't survive, has Ethereum with the future proof-of-stake concept a better chance of surviving government clamp-down?

**Tags:** legal, energy-consumption, government, regulation

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Basic understanding - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hashcash  
> **username_2**: Well, regulating mining cannot do it, but if the energy usage goes way up because of rising prices, they could be brought down by outlawing it's commercial usage as long it's PoW based, as the [EU already considered](https://beincrypto-com.webpkgcache.com/doc/-/s/beincrypto.com/european-commission-rejects-proof-of-work-ban/)  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2018-01-18. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

Those questions have been answered multiple times.

The difficulty depends on the mining power. If there is a regulation and 60% of the miners are away, the difficulty would decrease drasticly within 2 weeks and the other 40% would need less power to mines the blocks. So the mining would not be hampered for a long time.

> Would BTC survive with only minor mining going on?

yes. Only a few people could still mine. The bitcoin network does not really need big mining-pool companies for that.

And you third question is a primarily opinion-based.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: So, in a sense, energy regulations might actually be a good thing for the environment but not a bad thing for Bitcoin? Should we embrace BTC mining energy regulations? (In case we are not miners that is).  
> **username_3**: Bitcoin needs much energy, but the really bad thing is the energy production and how the energy production works in my opinion. There are completly green miners in Ireland who using renewable energies but there are also the other ones.  
> **username_0**: Why does it need much energy if we don't really need to mine to keep transactions going?  

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