Chinese Officials Are Investigating Crypto Mining Operations
Regulators in China’s Sichuan province are gathering information on cryptocurrency mining, potentially leading to a full crackdown on the practice, Reuters reports.
The news comes after the Chinese government announced it will “crack down on bitcoin mining and trading behavior, and resolutely prevent the transfer of individual risks to the society.”
It’s yet another warning sign that Bitcoin could soon be on shaky grounds. With officials preparing for a crackdown, the effects on the digital token could be significant. China currently accounts for well over half of the global cryptocurrency mining supply.
There is “China cracking down on Bitcoin” news about every 6 months dating back to 2017.
There are 10K BTC nodes spread out across the world (including my house). Mining is concentrated in low-cost electricity areas (i.e. China excess hydro). China currently at 65% of hash rate worldwide and I doubt that the CCP will want give up the revenue from it (they may “nationalize” tho.). If so Iceland (or Texas) will pick up the slack.
https://chainbulletin.com/bitcoin-mining-map/
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/texas-a-mecca-for-bitcoin-mining
(2017) https://www.cnet.com/news/bitcoin-takes-a-hit-as-china-bans-digital-tokens/