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| Chinese crackdown on Bitcoin mining continues |
The relevant departments of Yunnan Province have issued a notice ordering investigations into the illegal use of electricity by individuals and companies involved in bitcoin mining.
Yunnan Province is the latest province to join the state in combating the practice.
The Yunnan Energy Bureau has announced that it will cut off electricity to anyone who illegally uses electricity to mine bitcoin.
The authorities have also suspended bitcoin mining operations, which could pose a risk to the safety of electricity use.
Yunnan ranks fourth in China in terms of bitcoin hashing (a measure of a network's computing power), and Yunnan has pledged to shut down any businesses that violate the new regulations by the end of June.
Yunnan is the smallest country to join China in its fight against bitcoin mining. Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and Qinghai have also issued closure notices for some or all mining companies in their regions.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in Qinghai Province has ordered the closure of bitcoin mines. It also prohibits companies such as data centers, industrial parks, and power plants from providing land and electricity for crypto projects.
The notice was issued after Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the province and stressed the importance of environmental protection.
Fossil-fuel-rich Inner Mongolia began evacuating miners in February and shut down 35 bitcoin mining companies in late April.
China Rejects Bitcoin Mining:
Officials from the hydropower-dependent province of Sichuan held a meeting on bitcoin mining earlier this month, but they did not reach any conclusions about possible policy changes.
Yunnan, which also relies on clean energy, is the second largest hydroelectric power producing province in China.
The move to Yunnan comes at a time when Beijing continues to crack down on bitcoin and crypto mining.
The State Council's Financial Stability and Development Commission first targeted mining companies last month. She said she was working hard to suppress the mining industry. It can prevent personal risks from being transmitted to the community.
According to the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI), 65% of the global Bitcoin hash rate is located in China.
Xinjiang alone accounted for nearly 36%, while Sichuan and Inner Mongolia ranked second and third.
In addition, Yunnan ranks fourth, accounting for 5.42% of the global sales rate.
Bitcoin mining consumes about 111.5 TWh per year, which is more than the total annual energy consumption in the Netherlands.
The massive consumption of cryptocurrency mining contrasts with China's commitment to reduce carbon emissions by 2030 and be carbon neutral by 2060.