No less than the operator of Chinese crypto mining pool giant Lebit Mining, Jiang Zhuoer, has argued that the latest crackdown imposed on mining operations in the country would result in miners migrating their activities to Europe and the U.S., effectively pushing back the state of the industry to what it was back in 2014.
According to Cryptoslate, Jiang said, “The worst case may be that large-scale miners are closed, and China’s Bitcoin mining will return back to the state of 2014-2015.” During this time in China, small miners put a few at home while middle ones find a house to put dozens of mining machines and large miners find a remote, small hydropower station.
The Chinese government has been on an intense crackdown against crypto mining, going as far as putting up a direct line where remote operations in Inner Mongolia can be reported.
Miners change minds
While it is true that establishing mining farms overseas will prove to be too expensive for local miners as costs can be 10 times higher than in China, there’s an apparent change of perspective for them following a wave of anti-crypto statements from the government.
It can be recalled that three industry bodies under China’s Central Bank banned financial institutions involved in crypto-related transactions. Just a few days after that, the government went on a series of actions towards an intensified crackdown on bitcoin mining activities.
Protecting public interest
Jiang, however, noted that one of the objectives of the new policies imposed by the Chinese government is the protection of retail investors from risks associated with crypto trading and mining.
He explained this meant “individual mining is allowed, and you can bear profits and losses yourself, but financial capital is not allowed to intervene in mining.” The national government only wants to protect the general public from any losses that could result from cryptocurrency investments and mining, he said.
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