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?