The bitcoin (BTC) mining ban in China was announced some months back, and the list of provinces implementing it keeps growing. Now it is the Anhui province that told miners will have to close their doors. The decision is part of a broader plan to manage the expected increase in power consumption in the region, as mentioned by local news agency Hefei Online.
Anhui is one of the poorest provinces in China and was only removed from the list of impoverished areas in 2020. Now, the province expects to see further growth in its industry and economy. With that in mind, the province wants to optimize and curb energy consumption. Part of this plan is to shut down bitcoin miners.
The plan comes after the State Grid Corporation sent out a notice to all provinces in China. The state company requests all provinces to close down “virtual currency mining,” as Chinese crypto-journalist Colin Wu shared on Twitter:
“The State Grid Corporation of China has issued a notice to all parts of the country requesting the closure of virtual currency mining. At present, some provinces with insufficient power in China, such as Henan and Anhui, have also begun to implement it.”
The Chinese mining ban has had a significant impact on the Bitcoin network. The hash rate reached an all-time high of 180 million terahashes per second (TH/s) on the 14th of May. In the following months, the hash rate dropped back to 84 million TH/s as more and more Chinese miners shut up shop. Thanks to the historical difficulty adjustment, the hash rate has seen a slight recovery to 96 million TH/s. However, the uncertainty originating from China’s actions still holds the market in a grip. The bitcoin price trades at a price level of around $32.000, down from its price record of almost $65.000.
China’s ban also seems to have a positive effect. Many Chinese miners move away from China to other parts of the world, and existing miners in North America increase their capacity. In addition, these mining companies increasingly use renewable energy sources, making Bitcoin greener and more sustainable!
By GRN Energy Editorial team. Please read this article onLinkedin.
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