China has the largest concentration of bitcoin miners worldwide with estimates noting the country captures anywhere between 50-65% of the global hashrate. Xinjiang, the autonomous region of the People’s Republic of China, ostensibly accommodates 35% of the hashrate. This week a regional report from China and statements from the head of operations at Genesis Mining, indicate that Chinese miners are migrating from the area to Nordic countries like Sweden and Norway.
Just recently, news.Bitcoin.com, reported on the electrical issues in China that bitcoin miners in the country are currently dealing with due to the shortage of coal. In the report, it noted that the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI) map shows China still commands 65% of the hashrate today. However, a team member from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) explained to news.Bitcoin.com that the CBECI map is not up-to-date and will be updated in 2021.
Back in July, it was said that China was steadily losing its concentration of bitcoin hashpower and the country dropped to 50%. The hashrate report written by Bitooda said the U.S. bitcoin mining capacity had jumped to 14% in recent months. Iran accounts for 8%, Canada, 7%, Iceland 2%, and Russia and Kazakhstan also command 8% of the world’s hashrate too.
On December 30, 2020, the financial columnist from 8btc, Iyke Aru, explains that Chinese bitcoin miners are moving from China to Nordic countries.
Aru details that in the early days, bitcoin miners in China enjoyed the lack of regulations and extremely cheap electrical rates from the country. In recent years, however, Aru says that China’s communist government has deployed “regulatory agencies” and “strict measures towards cryptocurrencies” and mining operations in China have been affected.
“Bitcoin mining is gradually shifting base,” Aru’s report notes. “From being concentrated in China, miners have started a gradual but steady migrating to countries that present more friendly conditions for their industry.”
Philip Salter, head of operations at Genesis Mining has corroborated Aru’s statements in regard to Chinese miners moving to the Nordics. Salter stressed that China’s miner migration is one of the “biggest developments” in the bitcoin industry right now. The head of operations at Genesis Mining said that the movement is due to miners seeking out financial safety and “political stability.”
“There is a very important strategic shift away from mining in China to mining in western countries like Sweden as Bitcoin investors become more public and want more stability and critical safety,” Salter detailed.
Aru’s report goes on to highlight the recent electrical struggles Chinese bitcoin miners from Yunnan province have been dealing with in recent times. Moreover, because China has banned cryptocurrency exchanges, it has “complicated issues for miners, who cannot easily convert their mined Bitcoins into fiat in order to pay for services such as electricity.”
In Nordic countries, Aru says that Chinese operations are attracted to “eco-friendly green energy.” The benefits from countries like Sweden and Norway in contrast to China, alongside the complications from the communist government, is “pushing bitcoin miners away from China,” Aru’s report concludes.
What do you think about Chinese bitcoin miners migrating to Nordic countries like Sweden and Norway for friendlier mining environments? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.
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