South China’s Hainan Province has taken action to stop crypto mining. The local authorities blacklist the industry and increase electricity rates for mining firms that are still operating in the region.
Hainan Will Make Crypto Miners Pay More For Power
The ongoing crackdown on cryptocurrency mining in China has reached the country’s smallest and southernmost province, Hainan. The coin minting business has been recently listed as an “eliminated industry” and the remaining miners in the region will soon face higher electricity bills.
A document released this week by the Provincial Development and Reform Commission states that the differential tariffs on electricity will be implemented as part of an pricing system designed to lower carbon emissions.
Although China had banned trading and crypto-related activities in 2017, the authorities didn’t interfere with mining operations until 2017. In May, the State Council in Beijing decided to clamp down on the sector following President Xi Jinping’s pledge to achieve carbon neutrality in the next four decades. Provinces such as Sichuan, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Yunnan, Inner Mongolia, Anhui, and Hebei have already joined the central government’s offensive.
The future price for cryptocurrency mining enterprises in Hainan is 0.8 Yuan ($0.12)/kWh, according to the English-language Global Times, which quoted the official document from the regional administration. The operator of China Southern Power Grid maintains a price that is lower for residents in the area, at 0.6 Yuan ($0.09) Per kWh.
The commission further bans crypto mining companies from participating in the province’s electricity exchange program. Miners have been ordered to withdraw from the scheme before a designated deadline, which the report doesn’t specify. The regulator also promised to improve government surveillance of miners’ activities.
The news from Hainan comes after China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced in mid-November its intentions to go after state-run industrial enterprises involved in the extraction of digital currencies. The push followed the NDRC’s proposal from October to add crypto mining to the country’s latest “Negative List for Market Access” which would make the industry off-limits to investors.
What do you think about more stringent measures being taken against China’s crypto-mining industry? Please share your views on this topic in the comment section.
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