Chinese province to ban Bitcoin mining by April due to carbon emission

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Inner Mongolia plans to ban Bitcoin mining by April 2021 to reduce carbon emissions.
China’s carbon emission commitments could trigger an exodus of BTC mining projects.

A report by Chinese journalist Colin Wu reveals that Mongolia will ban Bitcoin mining. According to information released by Mongolia’s Internal Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, among others, has written a draft on energy consumption targets.

The draft is open for public comment until March 3, Wu reported, and calls for bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining projects to “clear up” by the end of April 2021. In addition, if the draft is approved, construction of new projects aimed at mining cryptocurrencies could be “strictly” banned. The ban aims to meet the 2020 carbon emissions reduction target. Wu reported:

China’s Inner Mongolia is demanding that all cryptocurrency mining projects be cleared by the end of April. Due to China’s commitment to the world’s carbon emission target in 2020, the mining of thermal power in Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang will be greatly affected.

The impact on the Bitcoin mining sector

In 2019, the Chinese government issued a ban on the “obsolete industry” of Bitcoin mining. However, it was ineffective in reducing such activities. According to Wu’s report, the current conditions are different and could be more effective in reducing the ongoing BTC mining.

The Mongolian province has little sympathy for crypto miners. Unlike Xinjiang and Sichuan where miners are recognized as a key part of the emerging energy industry and contributors to the local economy. In addition, Mongolia’s Ministry of Inner Industry has already banned the activities of 21 mining companies. Therefore, Wu believes:

This is currently a government draft, but due to Beijing’s carbon emission commitment, cryptocurrency mining will be greatly restricted in China in the next years. This will lead to more mining projects moving out of China.

In the immediate future, miners could be relocated to Sichuan, Yunnan, and other provinces with more miner-friendly policies. The most benefited sites could be those where the power system operates on hydroelectricity. However, the decision appears to already face criticism, Wu said:

As one of the top political tasks in China, carbon neutral will have a direct impact on cryptocurrency mining. The energy consumption of bitcoin mining will shift from thermal power to hydropower, wind power, solar energy and even nuclear power.

In the United States, companies such as Riot, Marathon, and Great American Mining have set out to “bring” the Bitcoin hash rate to the United States. To that end, they have created innovative ways to mine BTC and have made significant investments to improve their Bitcoin mining capabilities. Although China still dominates in this sector, the landscape could change in the next decade.