The Chinese province of Yunnan becomes the latest region to ban cryptocurrency mining. Previously, the local governments of Qinghai, Xinjiang, and Inner Mongolia have made similar bans. China is aiming to become carbon-neutral by 2060 and crypto mining is standing in the way of that.
China continues its rapid and decisive clampdown on cryptocurrency mining. Yunnan reportedly becomes the fourth recent addition to this list to instruct cryptocurrency miners to cease operations immediately.
The quartet of now mine-free provinces has resulted in a significant hash rate dip in China-based mining pools. Some, like AntPool and Poolin, have reported declines as high as 12%. Meanwhile, BTC.top, a major player in China’s mining sector, reported a 35.9% hash rate decline after numerous operations went dark.
A representative for BTC.top told Forkast that the company will shift focus to Sichuan for its alternative power resources. “We are moving to Sichuan as it’s now at its peak for water supply, so we could benefit from lower electricity expenses,” they said.
China continues its quest to reign in the crypto industry
The concerns over energy usage and carbon emissions from cryptocurrency continue to drive China to take drastic steps to limit both. The amount of energy that is required to mine crypto has been at the center of this debate with the Chinese government.
One of the major contributing factors of China’s “knee-jerk” reaction was a pledge that Xi Jinping made to the UN back in 2019. The pledge was that China would become a carbon-neutral country by the year 2060. To achieve this, China plans to halt the rise in carbon emission by 2030 and eventually achieve neutrality 30 years later.
While a great idea, Greenpeace estimates that 60% of Chinese electricity currently comes from the burning of coal, and to achieve carbon neutrality in the next 40 years is “nothing if not ambitions.”
The whole idea of crypto mining goes against this plan entirely, with the energy consumption and greenhouse gas released. This apparently has led China to continue taking steps to basically halt cryptocurrency mining in the country.
