This is a scary development in the democratic country of Norway. In a broad coalition, the government wants to pass a bill prohibiting Bitcoin and crypto mining. At first, they blamed the widespread criminal activity, but this was short-lived after posting the results of The Chainalysis 2024 Crypto Crime Report showing a 0,34% crime rate in crypto (far less than in cash or bank system money). The Norwegian government switched tactics fast and now blames the extreme energy consumption. If they succeed in their campaign all mining will be banned even for educational and research purposes. If the bill passes it will be illegal to hash a string of numbers manually with pen and paper as this would be considered mining and a criminal act.