RIYADH: Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency internationally, traded lower on Monday, down 1.29 percent to $39,166 at 08.30 a.m. Riyadh time.

Ether, the second most traded cryptocurrency, was priced at $2,866, down 2.73 percent, according to data from Coindesk.

US Lawmakers call for more oversight of cryptocurrency's environmental impacts

Twenty-three US lawmakers have called for the US Environmental Protection Agency, known as EPA, to increase oversight of the environmental impact of cryptocurrencies.

鈥淲e request that the EPA evaluate 鈥楶roof-of-Work鈥� mining facilities鈥� compliance with environmental statutes,鈥� they said.

鈥淲e have serious concerns regarding reports that cryptocurrency facilities across the country are polluting communities and are having an outsized contribution to greenhouse gas emissions.鈥�

Among other claims, the lawmakers asserted that Proof-of-Work, known as PoW, mining contributes to significant greenhouse gas emissions and results in major electronic waste challenges due to the highly specialized and short-lived computing hardware needed to secure the network. 

The lawmakers added: 鈥淭he industry needs to be held accountable for this waste and discouraged from creating it.鈥�

While the Congress members pointed out that 鈥渓ess energy-intensive cryptocurrency mining technologies, such as Proof-of-Stake, known as PoS, are available.鈥� 

In January Coinshares published a report showing that bitcoin鈥檚 mining infrastructure accounts for 0.08 percent  of the world鈥檚 carbon dioxide production today, Bitcoin.com reported. 

鈥淯sage of energy is a contentious and much-misunderstood function of the Bitcoin monetary system,鈥� Coinshares said. 

Proof of Work algorithms reward miners for solving complex equations that consume a lot of time and energy, while the Proof of Stake algorithm does not consume much power 

Indian banks block UPI for crypto transactions, seek explanation

According to a report published in the Economic Times, several leading Indian banks have asked the National Payments Corporation of India to clarify and issue a formal regulatory directive regarding the usage of UPI in cryptocurrency payments.

According to the report, several banks had blocked UPI for trading crypto based on 鈥渧erbal instructions鈥� from NPCI, and now they demand it in writing.

Coinbase CEO accuses Apple

Meanwhile, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has called Apple unfriendly toward the cryptocurrency industry in a recent podcast.

鈥淎pple so far has not really played nice with crypto; they鈥檝e actually banned a bunch of features that we would like to have in the app, but they just won鈥檛 allow it,鈥� said Armstrong.

He also added that soon phone makers would build smartphones with crypto functionality in mind.