cryptonews.net
Tianjin has become the latest Chinese city to announce higher differential electricity tariffs to further discourage mining of the energy-intensive cryptocurrency that was banned in the country in September 2021. The Tianjin Municipal Development and Reform Commission said on Monday that the city will raise rates by 0.5 yuan ($0.07) per kilowatt-hour for crypto miners and send a list of miners to grid companies to collect additional fees.
China banned crypto mining in September 2021, leading to a massive relocation of mining farms overseas. Since the ban, authorities have relied on anomalous power consumption figures and IP addresses associated with mining pools to find the remaining underground miners. Eight provinces in China have announced an increase in electricity tariffs for miners. In February, authorities in China's southeastern province of Zhejiang, which also raised electricity prices for miners, said the price increase was a punishment, not a green light, according to local Chinese media.
A study by the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance (CCAF) shows that after the total ban, China has regained its second place in the world in terms of the share of bitcoin mining hashrate. While China has officially banned crypto-related activities, China ranks 10th in the world for crypto adoption in 2022, according to a September report by Chainalysis.
Image: Bloomberg