Despite Crypto Ban, China Remains Top 2 Biggest Mining Hub For Bitcoin

China once accounted for 74% of the world’s production of Bitcoin in 2018. But the Chinese crackdown on Bitcoin mining in recent months has sent global prices of the leading cryptocurrency plummeting. A national ban on crypto mining was issued recently, and the move devastated the crypto industry and pushed many miners overseas.

But China remains entrenched in the second spot worldwide after the US. There was a significant negative impact immediately after the government-mandated crackdown in China.

The Chinese administration was not able to completely dismantle crypto operations after the ban, as underground operations continue on a large scale. And over the months since the ban, China has again emerged as among the biggest hubs for Bitcoin mining, in fact emerging to take its place in the second spot behind the US.

Chinese Bitcoin miners comprised 21.1 percent of the global total mining rate, according to data studied in early 2022. The US produces 37.8 percent of the January hash rate.

China Accounted For 75 Percent Of The Total Bitcoin Hash Rate In 2019

It is a big slide from its position at the top spot wherein its total Bitcoin hash rate accounted for over 75% back in 2019.

It then fell to zero in July-August 2021 as crypto mining farms were forced to shut down in China. But despite the ban in place in September last year, the hash rate climbed to 22.3% that month alone and has not dropped below 18% in the period that was analyzed.

Alexander Neumueller of CBECI said that new data proves that Bitcoin is alive and running in China. The project leader said that the data confirms empirically the claims made by insiders’ that industrial mining in Bitcoin continues to thrive in China and the country hosts around 20 percent of the combined hash rate.

The latest update from CBECI also indicates that around 9 percent of the global Bitcoin hash rate is mined in undisclosed locations, while Russia and Canada are the other major mining hubs and account for 4.7 and 6.5 percent respectively of the total.