China is kicking out more than half the world’s bitcoin miners, which could head many of them to Texas.
China has long been home to more than half the world’s bitcoin miners, but now, Beijing wants them out ASAP.
“You are going to see a dramatic shift over the next few months,” said Brandon Arvanaghi, previously a security engineer at crypto exchange Gemini. “We have governors like Greg Abbott in Texas who are promoting mining. It is going to become a real industry in the United States, which is going to be incredible.”
In May, the government called for a severe crackdown on bitcoin mining and trading. By and large, setting off what’s being dubbed in crypto circles as “the great mining migration.” This exodus is underway now, and it could be a game-changer for Texas.
The world’s bitcoin miners are exodus.
China’s renewed campaign against cryptocurrency has mining and exchange operators retreating from the country.
On Friday, Chinese Vice Premier Liu called for a “severe” crackdown on and punishment of “illegal securities activities,” including crypto mining and trading. In a word, as he put it—stem risks and ensure financial stability. The announcement sent cryptocurrency prices tumbling by double-digits over the weekend. And it has prompted several crypto mining and cryptocurrency exchanges to halt their operations in China.
The Friday order reiterated Beijing’s years-long anti-cryptocurrency stance, but it risks dealing a blow to the world’s cryptocurrency mining. According to new research published by Nature Communications, Chinese miners account for 75% of the world’s Bitcoin hash rate. The totals computational power used to mine and process crypto transactions—given the country’s access to specialized hardware and cheap electricity.
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The news prompted a crypto selloff and operators’ exodus from China. Howeer, experts argue that the new order will cause little long-term disruption; mining operations will shift elsewhere.
Home of crypto miners or bitcoin miners
China has long been home to more than half the world’s bitcoin miners, but now, Beijing wants them out ASAP.
This exodus is measured by looking at hash rate, an industry term used to describe the computing power of all miners in the bitcoin network.
“Given the drop in hash rate, it appears likely that installations are being turned off throughout the country,” continued Carter, who also thinks that probably 50% to 60% of bitcoin’s entire hash rate will ultimately leave China.
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Mining is the energy-intensive process which both creates new coins and maintains a log of all transactions of existing digital tokens.
Despite a lack of reserves that caused dayslong blackouts last winter. Above all, Texas often has some of the world’s lowest energy prices, and its share of renewables is growing over time, with 20% of its power coming from the wind as of 2019.
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It has a deregulated power grid that lets customers choose between power providers. Crucial, its political leaders are very pro-crypto–dream conditions for a miner looking for a kind welcome and cheap energy sources.
65% to 75% of the world’s bitcoin mining happened in China. For instance, mostly in four Chinese provinces: Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Sichuan, and Yunnan. Sichuan and Yunnan’s hydropower make them renewable energy meccas, while Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia are home to many of China’s coal plants.
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The drawdown in miners has already begun in Inner Mongolia. After failing to meet Beijing’s climate targets, province leaders decided to give bitcoin miners two months to clear out. On the other hand, explicitly blaming its energy misses on crypto miners.
Castle Island Ventures founding partner Nic Carter says that while it’s not totally clear how China will handle the next steps, a phased rollout is likely. “It seems like we’re going from policy statement to actual implementation in relatively short order,” he said.
The Bottom Line
“Every Western mining host I know has had their phones ringing off the hook,” said Carter. “Chinese miners or miners that were domiciled in China are looking to Central Asia, Eastern Europe, the U.S. and Northern Europe.”
One likely destination is China’s next-door neighbor, Kazakhstan. The country’s coal mines provide a cheap and abundant energy supply. It also helps that Kazakhstan has a more lax attitude about building. Above all, which bodes well for miners who need to construct physical installations in a short period of time.
“Texas not only has the cheapest electricity in the U.S. but some of the cheapest in the globe,” he said. “It’s also effortless to start up a mining company … if you have $30 million, $40 million, you can be a premier miner in the United States.”
