China’s Sichuan Sees 90% of Bitcoin Miners Being Shut Down

China’s assault on Bitcoin mining reached a pinnacle Wednesday, with Sichuan province being the latest to participate in the push to wipe out crypto mining industry. As per local sources, a recent meeting of regulators resulted in the prohibition being passed, which went into force yesterday morning, June 20th.

Sichuan also has some of the world’s greatest clusters of miners, who are now stuck and frantically attempting to flee the country. China has already eradicated over 90% of its known mining business, which covers nearly 35% of the worldwide BTC hash power.

The Sichuan Ya’an Energy Bureau and the Science and Technology Bureau lately met to discuss their stance on the mining prohibition. At the conclusion of it, they agreed to maintain the nationwide ban and informed the miners that they had until June 25 to shut down.

They also told the electricity companies that all miners should be disconnected by today, June 20th. Sichuan was attractive among miners since it has one of China’s lowest electricity tariffs. It also contains a lot of hydroelectricity, which is incredibly beneficial during the monsoon season, which runs from May to September.

Miners interviewed by the Global Times, a Chinese English-language publication, voiced concern at the decision. They stated that because renewable hydroelectric power is plentiful in Sichuan, they did not expect the region to follow in the footsteps of the other regions and restrict BTC mining.

“We had anticipated that Sichuan would be an exception during the crackdown because there is a power oversupply there throughout the monsoon season,” Shentu Qingchun, CEO of BankLedger, a Shenzhen-based blockchain startup, informed the Global Times. “However, Chinese officials are now pursuing a unified strategy to overhaul and rein down China’s growing Bitcoin mining sector.”

The police have identified 26 companies that they think are involved in BTC mining. These businesses must close down promptly or face legal repercussions. Sichuan power companies have also been asked to undertake self-inspections of presumed crypto miners and submit their results by June 25. BTC mining pools that use Chinese miners, like as Antpool and Binance pool, have already witnessed a significant reduction in hash rate, spanning from 20% to 50%, per some estimations.

“This implies that over 90% of Bitcoin mining capacity, or one-third of the entire crypto network’s computing power, will be halted in the near future,” Shentu explained. As a consequence, Chinese miners are forced to establish partnerships in order to relocate to areas like North America and Russia.”

Many people have been stuck in Sichuan as a result of the unexpected crackdown, which has put their livelihoods in jeopardy. “The escape window is narrowing, and we’re rushing to find offshore mines to install our mining machines,” one industry source told the publication.