Banned bitcoin miners were found using China’s state resources to carry on with their operations. This happens in the midst of a severe power shortage and the country’s fierce attempt to shut down all BTC mining.
The recent coal crisis in China raised their interest to speed up the shutdown of all Bitcoin mining operations. According to a recent report published on Bloomberg, the authorities of Zhejiang and Jiangso provinces investigated Bitcoin mining operations that were using state-owned resources. As reported:
Jiangsu found about one-fifth of some 4,500 internet protocol addresses associated with illegal mining activity belonged to public institutions, according to the media outlet The Paper, (…) Some 260,000 kilowatt hours of electricity were being used per day,
The authorities we able to locate them by tracing their IP through mining pool data paired with electric companies’ accounts.
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China’s Race To Lower Carbon Dioxide Emissions
Among China’s reasons to reject Bitcoin mining were the risks of fraudulent operations and the alleged bitcoin energy consumption’s impact on the environment.
While this is a relevant worry, raids and a crackdown of an entire industry rather than solutions might bring even more problems. Chinese grounds are shaking in many ways, and this report talks about the people’s own way to endure the crisis.
The Chinese government has been working on an ambitious plan to reduce carbon emissions until they reach carbon neutrality, which has found a big obstacle during the present power shortage crisis since they rely on coal for generating energy.
The Ban’s Impact On The Chinese People
The Chinese Bitcoin mining industry represented the biggest BTC production in the world, adding up to an estimate of 65% to 75% of the globe’s bitcoin mining. This was up until the government prohibited all related activities.
Their ban has represented a win for the U.S. Bitcoin mining industry, and a moment of despair for the people of China who depended on it.
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The shutdown of such a significant industry does not only impact the numbers of carbon dioxide emissions but also weights over a big human factor that was reliant on mining operations. It is being widely reported that many Chinese Bitcoin miners are migrating to the U.S. and countries where they can find cheap electricity and kinder laws.
As said a few months back in Euronews by Stein Smith:
Blockchain based applications, including but not limited to crypto assets, deliver quantifiable benefits and savings to all network members; seeking to prevent this maturation would simply hurt consumers. Cracking down and attempting to squeeze these entirely new models into existing frameworks seem appealing, and may even work in the short-term, but will ultimately fail to contain or curtail the dynamism that this sector continues to show.
New promises are found in the United States, where states like Texas are aiming to promote mining. The question is raised whether some Chinese crypto miners will find other ways to carry on operations in China.
At press time, Bitcoin trades at $61,824 with sideways movement in the 24-hour chart.
