China Orders Bitcoin Mine Closures in Northern Provinces
Last Updated on 23 March 2021 by CryptoTips.eu
The Beijing government is serious about achieving carbon neutrality by 2060 and therefore orders various Bitcoin mines in the norther province of Inner Mongolia to close, according to the well informed South China Morning Post.
Although crypto analysts welcome the move as it means the Middle Kingdom loses its ability to control the Bitcoin network further, there are also questions as to who will take over. The US is a probable answer.
Inner Mongolia
A strange titbit of demographic information is that more Mongolians live in the Chinese province of Inner Mongolia than in Mongolia itself. The Chinese province in fact offers higher salaries than Mongolia, which is why so many have moved. Some 5 million Mongolians now live in the Chinese province bordering their own country, where only 3 million of them live.
In the past years, because of the abundance of cheap energy in the region, Bitcoin mines sprung up almost like mushrooms, and more demands to open new ones had been made given the rising popularity of cryptocurrency and the rising price (and thus profits) of Bitcoin itself.
However, seeing the decreasing air quality in some of its major cities, the Beijing government decided to close down Bitcoin mines (who are more dependent on coal in the north than in the south) in that province altogether, leaving some of the control of the Bitcoin network to other miners.
As we’ve noted last week, the US (and certainly it’s largest state Texas) is competing to take over mining capacity, which could become a political power as well should Bitcoin rise to further heights.
Bitcoin has become an international asset. Such one-size-fits-all measures may lead to short-term fluctuations of computing power.
Admitted James Kuo, a blockchain professional in Shanghai.
In the long term, it could erode China’s ability to control the bitcoin network.
Another key factor could be that China is about to launch it’s E-yuan nationwide, and therefore any weakened mention of Bitcoin in it’s nation is helpful.
vicnt2815 / Depositphotos.com