Bitcoin mining in China rebounds, defying 2021 ban

[coinrifft]

According to this news,

Bitcoin mining is quietly staging a comeback in China despite being banned four years ago, as individual and corporate miners exploit cheap electricity and a data center boom in some energy-rich provinces, according to miners and industry data.
China had been the world's biggest crypto mining country until Beijing banned all cryptocurrency trading and mining in 2021, citing threats to the country's financial stability and energy conservation.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/bitcoin-mining-china-rebounds-defying-2021-ban-2025-11-24/

Good news or bad news?

Or the Chinese government might relax again and allow those miners or even themselves to mine Bitcoin as it seems that there have been a silent race with US in terms of the biggest Bitcoin holders as we all know that Trump want's Bitcoin as a strategic reserves.

[purple_sparkles]

It seems to me that this is happening with the approval of the Chinese government, because Asian societies tend to be more systematic, calm, and obedient compared to, for example, Americans. Considering how deeply total control and discipline are embedded in China, I doubt that such a serious violation could even be possible without support from above. China never follows an open political approach, and in this way it could very well be filling its state treasury in secret from the whole world.

[Haunebu]

Who gives a damn? BTC price is all that matters at the end of the day and if this move helps it move higher, that's the best case scenario. The dumdum Chinese government fools realized just like other governments that they cannot truly ban BTC and other popular crypto.

Their dictator Xi probably realized that they have more to gain than lose from crypto which is probably why they reversed this decision.

[MArsland]

It seems to me that this is happening with the approval of the Chinese government, because Asian societies tend to be more systematic, calm, and obedient compared to, for example, Americans. Considering how deeply total control and discipline are embedded in China, I doubt that such a serious violation could even be possible without support from above. China never follows an open political approach, and in this way it could very well be filling its state treasury in secret from the whole world.

The reactivation of bitcoin mining in China is either a mere coincidence or a long planned process. Given that Trump has fueled US dominance in the crypto industry, they certainly don't want to be left behind. Regardless of the reactivation of mining, we should learn from their past actions, which allowed them to shut down bitcoin mining at will after achieving profits.

[Odusko]

Whatever get banned without carful observations of it relevants to the society wi definitely fine it way back to limelight again just like this one right here, most of the countries that Bitcoin where banned in this manner are all witnessing a boom and nw is becoming underground and government fine it hard to tax them, so for a country like China with all the potentials in that place it will be hard to not have Bitcoin growing regardless in such a location.

[FortuneFollower]

Don't think about it that much. They are lifting and enforcing this ban like a sign that changes each year or so.

[Sticky Bomb]

Good news or bad news?

Or the Chinese government might relax again and allow those miners or even themselves to mine Bitcoin as it seems that there have been a silent race with US in terms of the biggest Bitcoin holders as we all know that Trump want's Bitcoin as a strategic reserves.

The mining of bitcoin in Xinjiang where miners exploit cheap electricity is still an illegal one since Beijing is yet to issue any official statement lifting the ban. The mining has been going on there Illegally since after the ban but in recent times the activities has intensified leading to hashrate surge of 14%. For such a business to sustain, obviously the Chinese government is aware of its operation, the rising hashrate is a good sign of softening the ban since HongKong stable coin bill kicked off on August and Beijing is considering a Yan backed stable coin. It's obvious China is drifting favorably towards cryptocurrency again.

[flapduck]

The headline would be more accurate with something like "China ban, but not really, again." The Reuters piece says they're back to something like ~15% of global hashrate, mostly in a few energy-rich provinces piggybacking on cheap power and the new data-center boom. Officially it's still banned, practically it's more of a gray area, since it is beneficial to the economy as a whole.

From Bitcoin's point of view it's mostly good news, but generally the same old. More hash = more security, and having China at ~15-20% is a very different world from the pre-2021 days where they were over 60%.

[macson]

I don't know if this is good news or not, but as far as I know, the Chinese government is quite strict about Bitcoin mining in their country. However, if the mining is done underground, it means the mining activity is illegal and carries a high risk. The Chinese government could crack down on these miners at any time, which would cause the Bitcoin hash rate from mining in China to drop again.

But it may be that the Chinese government knows about these activities and allows this industry to develop, but does not take this action because they see that the use of excess energy in certain areas provides benefits to the government.

[Ucy]

Well, when you think something depends on you to thrive, but doesn't let you control it,  you ban it in hopes that it fails, instead it continues to thrive, and then realize you actually need it more than it needs you, and to avoid lagging behind in global competition to accumulate lots of it for the benefit of countries and to become dominant in that aspect.

What makes Bitcoin really unique is in its ability to withstand such pressure regardless of how hard it's hit, coupled with the fact it's supernaturally protected.
If you resist it, those who welcome it could eventually become better than you.

[KiaKia]

I have friends in china who helps me whenever I need mining hardwares, so this information I am about to share is very valid.

The war on Bitcoin mining was on illegal mining, at first it seems like it was over but those who are willing to be transparent about it came back into the business documenting their power consumption bill whenever inspections comes up.

Some had to move to Hong Kong which is a less strictly place for crypto mining, but many china Bitcoin miners are already at huge losses after their government destroyed the ASICS they seized, as I heard from my source, many of them never get back what they have lost till today.

China is full of bad citizens who runs mining operation underground, this was the problem and it was so large that outage do happens, if the government never get so pissed on them they will bring down the country's Grid systems, this was sadly how big it was.

If they paid for the grid power it would be different and overlooked since the country is making money from it, but greed won't let them, and still dragging down the country's Grid system? I don't expect anything else either.

[Die_empty]

China is full of bad citizens who runs mining operation underground, this was the problem and it was so large that outage do happens, if the government never get so pissed on them they will bring down the country's Grid systems, this was sadly how big it was.

If they paid for the grid power it would be different and overlooked since the country is making money from it, but greed won't let them, and still dragging down the country's Grid system? I don't expect anything else either.

It is good to hear from someone with firsthand information about Bitcoin mining in China.

I am very sure that Beijing is aware of the mining activities that are still going on after the ban. China has returned to the top three Bitcoin mining hubs globally and the government cannot claim to be unaware of this.

The excuse that Bitcoin mining is a threat to the country's financial stability sounds stupid. With the excess power supply in Xinjiang and Sichuan regions, the claim that mining will negatively affect energy conservation is also wrong.

With the openness of the US to Bitcoin, China might be feeling threatened because it wants to compete with the US in every area.

Beijing might be too proud to accept that the ban was a mistake, so they might secretly be relaxing the restrictions and encouraging registered miners to operate.     

[coolcoinz]

There was never a real ban. Miners just moved to Hong Kong, just as it wnas when the exchange ban was imposed somewhere in 2015. The bans are the result of misunderstanding digital currencies by the communist party, afraid of losing control. In 2013 people begun to move mone out of the country through bitcoin and that made the party overreact.

It's a good thing that mining thrives in China. The more the merrier.

[BlackHatCoiner]

Stop caring what China does. I've lost count on the times they've announced a ban on bitcoin mining. It really doesn't make the news anymore. I remember half a decade ago, Xi announced they're making it illegal to mine in China, and price went down because of this. It feels good holders don't care about China mining operations anymore.

But yeah, if some people have invested in bitcoin mining in China, it's probably with the provision of the Chinese government. I highly doubt you could run any meaningful mining operation for a long time otherwise.

[Donneski]

I think this just proves to us that miners will always find a way as long as the numbers make sense. Even with the ban, China still has some of the best conditions for mining.

Personally , I would not read too much into it yet though. Until Beijing openly reverses the 2021 policy, this rebound could still be temporary.

Interesting development but still very unpredictable if you ask me.

[Ronsbit]

If there is a rebound in bitcoin mining in China, then there is every possibility that the Chinese government is in the know because, China I know is very strict with its laws, as nobody dares go against the policies of the nation. This is why it seems that nobody has heard anything about Bitcoin mining for quite a long time, as a result of their standing policies with respect to cryptocurrency. Well, it is good news to see that they are beginning to embrace Bitcoin and crypto at large.

[Z-tight]

Since mining is still officially banned in China, it is safe to say that those miners are doing it secretly. But going by the kind of country China is, i believe it is 'safer' to say that the government is simply choosing to look away and have relaxed the law without having to make any official statement.

I stopped caring about China and all its incessant news about bans and other whatnots. But i can't but notice that there are so many people in our community who care so much about China's crypto stance. I recommend they turn focus away from China, because it would hardly ever be completely positive as long as BTC is involved.

[Faisal2202]

Good news or bad news?

Or the Chinese government might relax again and allow those miners or even themselves to mine Bitcoin as it seems that there have been a silent race with US in terms of the biggest Bitcoin holders as we all know that Trump want's Bitcoin as a strategic reserves.

So out of nowhere almost all the news outlets are now sharing this information about China's increasing mining activities has increased to 20% and according to them they are back in the game since they left so it can be a political strike as most of these news outlets are doing this on orders or either people there actually mining and trading in darks.

There is no doubt that people there are doing this because crypto has been banned in my countries but people were still participating like nothing has happened and due to the restrictions they were also not suppose to pay taxes etc. This is good news until we see some official statement because it can be a bad news in no time, like if government said they will deal people accordingly the restriction will increase automatically.

[Patikno]

I don't think this news can be considered good news yet, because it is still unclear, meaning China hasn't yet given any certainty regarding the easing of Bitcoin mining restrictions there, and Bitcoin mining is still officially prohibited according to the source the OP mentioned. So, this situation still shows uncertainty, and there is the potential for illegal miners to be caught, and have their Bitcoins confiscated for violating their regulations, and that could lead to bad news as well. Cmiiw. I don't really understand the government there, but if the rise of Bitcoin mining can change the regulations in China (perhaps slowly, by the start of policy overhaul, or reforms), then I think that is certainly good news, and adoption will obviously be open there.

[criptoevangelista]

This story is getting pretty old already, China banning and then unbanning mining. Now we just have to see when the next ban will happen, which will cause FUD, and as a consequence the weak hands will trigger a new bitcoin dump, creating another buying opportunity for those who truly understand what bitcoin is about.