China’s crackdown on Bitcoin mining has led to an increase in clean bitcoin mining operations.
Even though trading of cryptocurrencies has been banned in China since 2017, the country still leads the world in crypto mining rigs. Accounting for nearly 70 percent of mining operations in the world. A number that has always worried the Chinese government.
With the government shutting down rigs due to environmental concerns, miners are now looking to clean energy solutions for their operations.
China’s Pollution Problem
The pollution problem in China has been a growing one since the 1970s. With the rise of industries, the country has seen a significant increase in pollution over the years. It ranks number 2 in most polluted countries in the world.
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The air in Beijing was at one point being compared to smoking four packs of cigarettes a day. Although this has never been proven.
China leads the world in terms of Bitcoin mining. With established technology supply chains and extremely cheap electricity, it makes it the perfect location for setting up Bitcoin mining rigs.
Bitcoin mining involves sophisticated computers solving cryptographic problems to verify each transaction. This process requires a lot of computing power, which requires a lot of energy to run these computers.
The major source of energy for Bitcoin mining is fossil fuel energy. Fossil fuel energy has been a major producer of pollutants in the world. Contributing 89% of all global CO2 emissions. According to this report from the intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
It is no surprise then, that the government has turned its attention to a major consumer of energy; Bitcoin mining.
Bitcoin price crashes following China's crackdown | Source. BTCUSDT on TradingView.com
China Shuts Down Bitcoin Mining Farms
China has shut down all mining facilities in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Qinghai provinces.
In a bid to cut down on energy consumption, China’s Inner Mongolia region has moved to put a ban on all new mining operations. The region has also shut down all Bitcoin mining rigs in the region.
Crypto mining farms have started looking to move their operations out of China. Leading to a mass exodus of mining rigs out of the mining headquarters of the world.
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Others have started to look towards clean mining to hopefully evade similar crackdowns in the future.
Mining farms in Sichuan are still operational.
This is mainly due to the fact that the mining farms in Sichuan uses hydropower, producing significantly less pollution.
Clean power in Bitcoin mining has now risen to over 50% in the wake of the crackdown.
Mining operations like BTC.TOP and Huobi Hall have announced that they have suspended their operations in China. Huobi Hall is looking to export its mining rigs overseas. While BTC.TOP has announced that it will now mainly conduct its mining business in North America.
Featured image from GreenSmartEco, chart from TradingView.com