China was previously the world’s greatest Bitcoin mining country, with more than 75% of the global BTC hash rate power in 2019. Following a series of crypto mining farm shutdowns throughout the country, the hash rate dropped to 0% in July and August 2021.
Bitcoin mining, an activity that was once prohibited by the government of the People’s Republic of China, appears to have now returned to an everyday routine for crypto players. In May 2021, China’s government announced a new phase in its bid to totally eliminate crypto operations in the country and one aspect which was banned throughout all the provinces in the country was mining.
Meng Wei, the spokesperson for China’s National Development and Reform Commission, a macroeconomic planning agency, described crypto operations as dangerous, highlighting Bitcoin mining as an “extremely harmful” industry that jeopardizes China’s pursuit of carbon neutrality.
Crypto mining does not only look to have stood the test of time, the activity looks to have gained greater ground in the country, just a few months ago, was looking to banish it. According to a new report from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF), China has re-emerged as one of the world’s largest Bitcoin mining hubs.
Data from the CCAF’s Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI), which maps mining activity around the world based on geolocational data reported by partnering pools, shows that China’s contribution to the bitcoin mining network was second only to that of the United States from September 2021 to January this year.
The data “strongly suggests that significant underground mining activity has formed in the country”, the CCAF said in a statement. “Access to off-grid electricity and geographically scattered small-scale operations are among the major means used by underground miners to hide their operations from authorities and circumvent the ban,” they added.
According to the data, China accounted for almost a fifth of the Bitcoin network’s hash rate at the end of 2021 and had become the second-largest Bitcoin hash rate provider as of January 2022, accounting for 21.1% of the total global BTC mining hash rate, after only the United States.
China was previously the world’s greatest Bitcoin mining country, with more than 75% of the global BTC hash rate power in 2019. Following a series of crypto mining farm shutdowns throughout the country, the hash rate dropped to 0% in July and August 2021.
“Our data empirically confirms the claims of industry insiders that Bitcoin mining is still ongoing within the country. Although mining in China is far from its former heights, the country still seems to host about one-fifth of the total hash rate.” Alexander Neumueller added that the new data is sufficient to conclude that Bitcoin mining is still alive in China, even after the ban.
CCAF’s Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index, also suggested that miners covered their tracks with overseas proxies until they deem it safe, to avoid any contact with law enforcement.
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