China’s crackdown on cryptocurrency”mining” has expanded to the southwest province of Sichuan, where police ordered cryptocurrency mining jobs closed from the significant mining centre.
Cryptomining is big business in China, accounting for over half of international bitcoin production. But the State Council, China’s cabinet, last month vowed to clamp down on bitcoin mining and trading as part of a series of steps to control financial risks.
Other popular mining regions, such as Inner Mongolia, have mentioned cryptocurrency mining’s usage of power generated by highly polluting sources like coal in dictates targeting the business.
Friday’s movement in Sichuan – where miners mostly use hydropower to operate the especially designed computer equipment employed in verifying bitcoin trades – suggests the crackdown is more widely based.
The Sichuan Provincial Development and Reform Commission, along with the Sichuan Energy Bureau issued a joint note, dated Friday and seen by Reuters, demanding the closure of 26 suspected cryptocurrency mining jobs by Sunday.
Sichuan is China’s second-biggest bitcoin mining province, based on information compiled by the University of Cambridge. Some miners go their actions there in summer time to benefit from its abundant hydropower resources.
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The notice orders state power companies in Sichuan to conduct inspections and make alterations, reporting their outcomes from Friday. They’re to immediately stop providing electricity to cryptomining projects they have detected.
The police urged local authorities in Sichuan to begin combing for cryptomining projects and shut them down. It prohibited new projects.
Other regional mining centers including Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Yunnan have arranged crackdowns on bitcoin mining.