Canada

While the wisdom of limiting power supply to data centres could be debated, the ban on cryptocurrency centres is a no-brainer. Cryptocurrency consumes massive amounts of electricity to run servers and water to cool them. In 2023, a study published in the journal Sustainability found crypto mines were consuming enough electricity to power the entire country of Argentina. Global water use was similarly off the dial

enough to supply basic drinking water and sanitation services for those who lack access.

And that's not to speak of carbon emissions associated with cryptocurrency. Every Bitcoin transaction generates carbon emissions "roughly equivalent to driving a gasoline-powered car between 1,600 and 2,600 kilometres," a paper in the London School of Economics Business Review found.

Since 2020, the country's average electricity rate has increased by more than 30 per cent. But the increases are wildly higher in communities near data centre developments. A September Bloomberg investigation found monthly electricity costs in some of those locations had risen by as much as 267 per cent over what they were five years ago.