US has overtaken China to account for the largest share of the world’s Bitcoin mining, data published on Wednesday by Britain’s Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance show.
The data figures demonstrate the impact of a crackdown on Bitcoin trading and mining launched by China’s State Council, or cabinet, in late May, which devastated the industry and cause miners to shut up shop or move overseas.
China’s share of the power of computers connecte to the global Bitcoin network, known as the “hash rate”, had fallen to zero by July from 44% in May, and as much as 75% in 2019, the data showed. Bitcoin price in India stood at Rs. 45.28 lakhs as of 11:30am IST on 14th October 2021.
Miners have taken up the slack, with mining rig manufacturers shifting their attention to North America and Central Asia and larger Chinese miners moving as well, though this process is fraught with logistical difficulties.
US now accounts for the largest share of mining, some 35.4% of the global hash rate as of the end of August, follow by Kazakhstan and Russia, the data show.
Bitcoin is create or “mine” by high-power computers, usually at data centres in different parts of the world, which compete to solve complex mathematical puzzles in a process that makes intensive use of electricity.
Russia’s low energy costs and cool climate enable some companies using surplus electricity to benefit from Bitcoin’s surging prices earlier this year, but concerns are growing about illegal mining.
The government in Moscow in late September, Igor Kobzev, governor of Russia’s Irkutsk region, points to “avalanche-like growth” of energy tariffs, blaming underground cryptocurrency mining.
Authorities elsewhere are more tolerant or even welcoming of Bitcoin mining, while Chinese authorities announce even tougher rules for Bitcoin mining and trading last month.
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