China’s crackdown on bitcoin mining has caused severe damage to local businesses. Owners of small hydroelectric power plants have decided to put for sale their operations, promising that they can be used for BTC mining.
Illegal BTC Mining in China to Go on?
As it has become painfully clear for the cryptocurrency community, China doesn’t favor Bitcoin. The world’s most populated nation tends to reiterate its ban on the industry frequently, but this May, it took things a step further by going after miners and ordering mining facilities in numerous regions to cease operations due to environmental issues.
The effects on the BTC network are more than evident, with the hash rate dumping by 40% in a few weeks. However, local businesses who provided their services to miners until this point have also felt the adverse consequences.
According to a Chinese media report, some owners of small hydroelectric power plants have put their services for sale on a popular second-hand e-commerce platform called Xiandyu.
Once SCMP reached out to them, they claimed that these plants would enable buyers to “secretly mine cryptocurrency” if purchased. Although a few sellers claimed the listings are not related to the crackdown, the majority did. Furthermore, some added that prices for the hydro plants had decreased substantially in the past few months.
Miners’ Relocation Has Begun
While some of the ousted miners could turn to illegal mining to continue their operations, others have looked into relocating to other, more friendly nations.
CryptoPotato reported recently that more than three tons of mining equipment were prepared to be shipped from China to the US. Approximately at the same time, the Mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez, promised cheaper electricity for those who go to his city.
Other reports indicated that Chinese miners are exploring other options as well. Some of them were looking into moving closer to home – Kazahkstan. Others still prefer to go west, with Canada and the US being the most attractive options, especially Texas, and again – Florida.
