Xinjiang leadership ordered to immediately stop Bitcoin mining

The authorities of the Chinese province of Xinjiang today ordered the immediate termination of the activities of bitcoin miners in the territory under their control.

According to the notification from the Commission for Reform and Development of the Region, appropriate measures must be taken by the administration of the Zhongdong Economic and Technological Development Park. The park covers 15,500 square kilometers and houses many coal mining and utilization facilities, including coal-fired power plants and industrial factories. It also houses some of China’s largest miners due to the high availability of electricity.

Local authorities motivated the decision by the implementation of the instructions of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China on suppressing financial risks associated with bitcoin mining and trading, and “Measures for assessing energy conservation of investment projects” of the National Commission for Reform and Development of China. Zhongdong is considered an important bitcoin mining center in the country.

It is expected that the latest measures by the Chinese leadership will negatively affect the computing power of the bitcoin network. Compared to Inner Mongolia, where a similar order was recently issued, Xinjiang has a large amount of resources for cryptocurrency mining. In addition, miners started leaving Inner Mongolia in early March. Bitcoin’s average hash rate has seen a moderate rise to 150 EH / s since the last difficulty adjustment on May 29.

In Sichuan, where the predominant source of electricity is water resources, a local administration meeting was held earlier on the possible consequences of the mining ban, but no action has yet been taken there.

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