Multiple Chinese provinces are claiming to have stepped up their efforts to crack down on illegal crypto mining operations – an indication that they are either eager to impress the central Beijing government or that some miners in the country are still refusing to shut down.
Per Shanghai Securities News, Zhejiang Province is exacting a mining crackdown, and its Provincial Party Committee teamed up with the local government to “launch a joint special incentive” that has allowed the province to “comprehensively combat the use of public [energy] resources” to fund crypto “mining and trading activity.”
University of Cambridge data compiled at the end of August this year appears to show that Mainland China’s bitcoin (BTC) hashrate is 0%, but some would argue that China’s crackdown, which was still only taking shape in August, has not quite been so complete.
Indeed, Zhejiang Province claims that its efforts to “clean up” and eliminate crypto mining has already borne fruit: The province says it “screened” activities at 4,699 Zhejiang-based IP addresses it suspected of mining-related activity, unearthing “offenders” whose cases have been sent to prosecutors.
The province added that it had found illegal BTC miners, as well as individuals mining ethereum (ETH) and eight other altcoins.
Zhejiang Province made repeated mention of the need to attain “carbon neutrality,” as well as “resolutely combat cryptocurrency mining” as well as “speculative [crypto] trading hype.”
And the province will not stop there: It claimed its law enforcement and web regulatory agencies would now provide “relevant departments” with guidance on ways to “carry out monitoring and supervision” of energy resources to ensure they were not being used to “engage in mining-related activities.”
Meanwhile, in Jiangsu Province, investigators said they believed a similar screening effort involving 4,502 IP addresses had uncovered evidence of hundreds of illegal miners using energy intended for public institutions. AFinance reported that the “illegal miners” it found were using 260,000 kWh of energy per day to fuel their efforts.
A broader crackdown on cybercrime was reported in Guangdong, where police and other officials feted a fruitful crackdown on crypto operators, miners, and net-based fraudsters, per the Nanfang Daily Newspaper.
The sweep saw 5,770 people arrested – an unspecified number of whom were involved in crypto-related activities – with authorities claiming to have “achieved remarkable results.”
The provinces said they were keen to stamp out “illegal cross-border transactions” using crypto and “stop the waste of social public resources.”
Similar crackdowns have also been taking place in other Chinese provinces in recent weeks, including the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region – a former BTC mining hotspot.
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