financemagnates.com
A study from the UK Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance revealed that the United States is now the heavyweight country in the Bitcoin (BTC) mining industry, surpassing China. According to Reuters, the figures are not surprising, considering the recent Chinese government’s crackdown on the crypto sector.
China’s current hash rate had plummeted to zero levels by July from 44% in May to 75% in 2019, said the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance. That said, the study confirms how the miners are shifting their eyes towards North America, as the US accounts for 35.4% of the global hash rate as of the end of August, followed by Kazakhstan and Russia. “Our current focus is accelerating the construction of compliant mining farms in North America and Europe,” a representative for mining rig maker Ebang International Holdings told Reuters.
Chinese miners are moving their operations to Central Asia countries due to its crypto mining-friendly environment in terms of regulatory frameworks. “The immediate effect of the government-mandated ban on crypto mining in China was a 38% drop in global network hash rate in June 2021 – which corresponds roughly to China’s share of hash rate before the clampdown, suggesting that Chinese miners ceased operations simultaneously,” the study noted.
Overal Global Hash Rate Share Metrics
The next countries on the ranking are Canada with 9.55%, Ireland with 4.68%, Malaysia accounting for 4.59%, Germany with a 4.48% global hash rate share, Iran with 3.11%, and Norway with 0.58%. However, the study highlighted that countries like Germany and Ireland are included in the list because miners often rely on the usage of virtual private networks (VPNs).
In September, the ‘Notice on Further Preventing and Disposing of the Risk of Hype in Virtual Currency Trading’ unveiled by the Chinese government noted that all companies offering token issuance, trading, derivatives, and order matching for digital assets are prohibited. Also, it noted that staff of overseas crypto exchanges operating in the country, including those who work for customer support departments, will be subject to investigations.