Between May and June 2021, China introduced a series of policies to restrict the trading of encrypted lottery and to ban the operation of encrypted lottery mining farms.

　　So, after China completely banned mining, what is the current situation of the mining industry?

　　On May 25, the Inner Mongolia Development and Reform Commission issued the ‘Eight Measures for the Resolute Crackdown and Punishment of Mining Activities of Online casino and How to find it (Solicited Opinions)’, which vigorously restricted the operation of mining farms in Inner Mongolia.

　　On June 9, the Sichuan Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology issued the ‘Notice on the Rectification and Rectification of Mining Projects of Online casino and How to find it’, requiring the relevant Online casino and How to find it mining activities in all regions of Qinghai to be rectified and regulated.

　　According to the document ‘Notice on the Rectification and Closure of Mining Projects of Online casino and How to find it by the Sichuan Provincial Development and Reform Commission and the Sichuan Provincial Energy Bureau’, all mining operations in Sichuan need to be stopped before June 20, 2021.

　　Due to factors such as risk, China has always restricted the domestic transactions of Online casino and How to find it, but before this year, it had not restricted the mining industry of Online casino and How to find it. China was once a major gathering place for the mining industry of Bitcoin and other encrypted currencies. According to the data of the University of Cambridge in the UK, China once accounted for 65.08% of the computing power of Bitcoin. However, the strength of this regulation is so great that many industry insiders call it ‘unprecedented’. This crackdown also led to a decline in the computing power of the entire Bitcoin network. The data from BTC.com shows that on July 13, 2021, the average computing power of the entire Bitcoin network was 97.21 EH/s, nearly 51% lower than the historical peak of 197.61 EH/s (May 13).

　　In fact, after the miners closed their business in China, the hash rate of the Bitcoin network (a computational indicator used to measure mining activities) has gradually recovered from its low point in July. According to the data from the data analysis website Y Chart, as of October 14, the hash rate of the Bitcoin network has increased by about 117% from the low point of 61 EH/s in July to 135.48 EH/s per second.

　　Hash rate of Bitcoin mining over the past 3 years

　　Source: Blockchain website

　　After China’s comprehensive ban on the mining industry, the United States has replaced China as a mining industry hub, and industry insiders believe that this trend will not stop soon. The data from Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) shows that since China’s comprehensive ban on the mining industry, miners mainly from the United States have gradually taken over the global Bitcoin mining business. By the end of September, the United States accounted for 35.4% of the global computing power, more than twice the 16.8% at the end of April and more than four times the 9.0% in September 2020.

　　Distribution of Bitcoin mining industry

　　Source: Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance

　　Distribution of Bitcoin mining proportion (as of the second quarter of 2021)

　　Source: Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance

　　CEO Bryan Bullett of mining company Bit Digital said in an interview with CoinDesk that due to the lack of restrictions on this industry, it is expected that the United States will continue to play a leading role in the share. No one wants to do business in areas where they have to face survival risks.

　　At the same time, China’s mining proportion has actually dropped from a high of 75.53% of the global Bitcoin mining computing power in September 2019 to zero. According to CCAF data, Kazakhstan and Russia are now following the United States, with computing power shares of 18.1% and 11.23% respectively, while the computing power shares of the two countries were 8.2% and 6.8% respectively in April.

　　United States

　　For miners, the lower the electricity cost, the more attractive it is. The electricity costs in different states of the United States vary. The average commercial electricity cost in Texas is 8.09 cents per kilowatt-hour (30% lower than the national average). The average residential electricity cost in Texas is 11.75 cents per kilowatt-hour (15% lower than the national average). According to Global Petrol Price data, the world average electricity cost is 13.6 cents per kilowatt-hour. Texas’s commercial electricity cost is 40.5% lower than the world average.

　　Renewable energy has also gradually become one of the important sources of electricity in the United States. According to data from the EIA (U.S. Energy Information Administration), hydropower accounts for 24% of the power generation sources in Washington State; in New York State, it is 23%. In addition, many states in the United States have nuclear power sources, with nuclear power accounting for 20% of the country’s energy structure. The share of renewable energy in Texas has also been growing over time. By 2019, 20% of its electricity came from wind energy.

　　The mining industry has always been criticized for its energy issues. In order to solve this problem, many mines have adopted renewable energy for mining. The United States has abundant renewable energy resources, attracting a large number of mines.

　　2021年5月14日，马斯克发推特表示因比特币能耗问题，特斯拉将停止接受比特币。而一旦挖矿在能源方面更具有持续性，就会重新接受比特币支付。在美国利用可再生能源挖矿，除了巨大的盈利空间之外也能减少温室气体排放。

　　特斯拉停止接受比特币的推特

　　有人将挖矿视为处理废弃物的手段。例如在德克萨斯州的油田开采中，伴随物天然气大多被排放出大气。而将矿机设置在附近吸收天然气燃烧所产生的能源除了能够减少天然气此温室气体排放之外，也能够为石油开采商赚钱。美国纽约的一家天然气电厂，就采购了7000台比特币矿机，以消耗过剩的发电量。

　　天然气电厂内的比特币矿机

　　来源：BlockPitch

　　01区块链这里也整理了部分北美挖矿上市公司的持有比特币数量与对应金额，写稿时（2021年10月19日）的当下市值。

　　表1 部分北美上市挖矿公司

　　资料来源：01区块链整理

　　政策上给予倾斜的哈萨克斯坦

　　目前，哈萨克斯坦在全球比特币挖矿市场的份额仅次于美国，占所有加密货币挖矿的 18.1%。然而根据IEA（国际能源署）的资料显示：煤炭燃料约占发电量的 70%，其次是天然气为 20%，其余则是新能源发电online casino entry method and The most fun game。哈萨克斯坦因其廉价的电费而吸引了许多矿工前往挖矿，但根据其能源结构来看，越多的挖矿活动则意味着更多的二氧化碳排放。

　　哈萨克斯坦在政策方面对于加密货币和挖矿产业给予倾斜。哈萨克斯坦于2020年通过法律，承认比特币为数字资产，允许在境内与与其他商品一样进行交易。法律也允许在合规的前提下在哈萨克斯坦境内建立加密货币交易所。

　　表2 哈萨克斯坦在加密货币方面的相关政策

　　资料来源：01区块链整理

　　阿斯塔纳国际金融中心（AIFC，哈萨克斯坦建立的金融中心）专门建立了IT园区，在这里落户的矿场除了每年流水1%的“使用费”，无需缴纳任何税款。但随着越来越多的矿场选择在哈萨克斯坦落户，该国有意修改其税法，计划从2022年起按照每千瓦时1腾格（0.00232美元）的价格收取数字挖矿税。

　　此外，哈萨克斯坦数字发展部正在与AIFC以及区块链协会起草加密货币行业和区块链技术法规，规范化本国的区块链法规。

　　哈萨克斯坦对于加密货币的支持立场坚定不移，且积极建设相关政策规范化以及推出利好加密货币的政策都使得大量矿场入驻哈萨克斯坦境内。

　　Russia
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　　Heat dissipation has always been one of the problems that mining farms need to solve. Once multiple mining machines are running, they emit a huge amount of heat. Without an effective heat dissipation method, the lifespan of these expensive devices would be less than a month. Moreover, a single mining machine may produce 100 decibels of noise, and the noise pollution from multiple mining machines operating together can be imagined. Therefore, mining farms are rarely set up in cities, and most are in suburban areas.

　　Most mining farms are characterized by being far from residential areas, with strong ventilation and cooling equipment. The cold and sparsely populated Siberia meets these characteristics.

　　Many mining farms are set up in valleys or riversides, using the low temperature of specific terrain to reduce the temperature of the mining machines. Globally, high-latitude areas are more favored by large cryptocurrency mining companies. The coldest place in the Northern Hemisphere with an average annual temperature is none other than the Siberian region in the Russian Far East.

　　Average temperature and rainfall in Siberia each month

　　Source: HikersBay website

　　In addition, abundant energy supply is also a reason. The nearby city of Bratsk is rich in hydropower resources. One of Russia’s largest hydropower plants, the Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Plant, and the Ust-Ilimsk Hydroelectric Power Plant, relatively downstream, are both located nearby and have extremely large scale and power capacity.

　　Mining farms require a large amount of electricity, and the nearby hydroelectric power station can provide the electricity they need. BitRiver (a Bitcoin mining company) has its own mining farm nearby.

　　This city was previously an industrial city with many aluminum plants. BitRiver has reached a cooperation agreement with the company behind the aluminum plants, renting a large number of old factories for the placement of mining machines. It has also signed relevant agreements with the hydroelectric power station, obtaining nearly 100 terawatts of inexpensive electricity from En+ Group (an energy company in Russia), which enables them to scale up their mining operations significantly.

　　In fact, 100 terawatts of electricity is just a drop in the bucket for the Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Plant, which can generate more than 22.5 terawatts of electricity. The global Bitcoin mining activities consume 110 terawatts of electricity each year, so theoretically, if all the electricity from the Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Station were to be used for Bitcoin mining, it would not be a problem to mine 20.45% of the new Bitcoin in the world.

　　In addition, Russia also legally recognizes the status of cryptocurrencies. On July 22, 2020, the Russian lower house passed a bill granting legal status to cryptocurrencies but prohibiting them as a means of payment. Anatoly Aksakov, Chairman of the Russian State Financial Monitoring Committee, said that the status of cryptocurrencies in Russia has been legally defined.

　　Compared to the ambiguous attitude of many countries towards cryptocurrencies, Russia has clarified its stance. Russia has adopted a lenient and pragmatic policy towards the cryptocurrency industry. Some mining farms are worried about regulatory or legal issues, but mining farms in Russia avoid legal risks, attracting many to set up shop.

　　(Editor in Chief: Wang Zhiqiang HF013)