China Shuts Bitcoin Mining Farms Following Coronavirus Epidemic

As the Coronavirus epidemic is getting worse, Chinese authorities are shutting down Bitcoin mining farms to contain the spread.

Jiang Zhuoer, the operator of mining pool BTC.Top, revealed on Weibo last Tuesday that his mining facility and several others were shut down by local police, citing the ongoing epidemic.

“I have a mine in a remote suburb. The police came and forced all the mining authorities to shut down,” Jiang wrote. “It is understandable to take a regular… roll call, and strictly prohibit going out, but what’s the benefit of shutting down the mining machine to prevent the epidemic?”

Though the exact location of the mining facility cannot be verified, many comments on the post suggest that it is located in the province of Xinjiang, quite far from the city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the epidemic.

“Maybe all the other factories have been shut down, and we are no exception,” Jiang added. “If [this continues], most people will die from poverty before they die from the epidemic.”

The Coronavirus has stalled the economy of China, mainly in the province of Hubei. So far, 638 people have died because of the virus, per official data, and almost 31,500 people are infected.

Good news for miners outside China

Though the Chinese government banned the trading of digital currencies, the country is still leading Bitcoin Bitcoin While some may still be wondering what is Bitcoin, who created Bitcoin, or how does Bitcoin work, one thing is certain: Bitcoin has changed the world.No one can remain indifferent to this revolutionary, decentralized, digital asset nor to its blockchain technology.In fact, we’ve gone a long way ever since a Florida resident Laszlo Hanyecz made BTC’s first official commercial transaction with a real company by trading 10,000 Bitcoins for 2 pizzas at his local Papa John’s.One could now argue that While some may still be wondering what is Bitcoin, who created Bitcoin, or how does Bitcoin work, one thing is certain: Bitcoin has changed the world.No one can remain indifferent to this revolutionary, decentralized, digital asset nor to its blockchain technology.In fact, we’ve gone a long way ever since a Florida resident Laszlo Hanyecz made BTC’s first official commercial transaction with a real company by trading 10,000 Bitcoins for 2 pizzas at his local Papa John’s.One could now argue that Read this Term mining, which is estimated at 65 percent of the total Hash Rate Hash Rate A hash rate is the measure of a cryptocurrency miner’s performance and a key security metric. In the context of mining, the more hashing or computing power in a given network, the greater its security and its overall resistance to attackMining hashrate is a key security metric. The more hashing (computing) power in the network, the greater its security and its overall resistance to attack. Hash rate is also a measurement of the output of a device that is used to add transactions to a blockchain A hash rate is the measure of a cryptocurrency miner’s performance and a key security metric. In the context of mining, the more hashing or computing power in a given network, the greater its security and its overall resistance to attackMining hashrate is a key security metric. The more hashing (computing) power in the network, the greater its security and its overall resistance to attack. Hash rate is also a measurement of the output of a device that is used to add transactions to a blockchain Read this Term.

Despite the shut down of Chinese mining facilities, the hash rate of Bitcoin mining is continuously rising, mainly due to the rising prices of the digital currency. This also indicates the possibility of the rise of mining facilities outside China.

In December, the local authorities of Sichuan province were also shutting down crypto mining farms due to the electricity shortage in the dry season.