China still accounts for more than 21% of the total global bitcoin network hashrate after the local government imposed a mining ban on the country last year.
Miners in China accounted for 21.1% of the total global hashrate distribution in January 2022, according to a new report from the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance obtained by Cointelegraph . Despite the restrictions imposed, the Chinese government has not been able to completely stop bitcoin mining in the country.
In 2019, China was the world’s largest bitcoin mining country, and the local BTC hashrate accounted for over 75%. In the summer of 2021, after the official ban on mining and cryptocurrency operations in China, the hashrate in the country fell to 0%. However, after just six months, the indicator recovered by more than 20%.
The latest update of the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index also shows a decrease in the share of hashrate in Kazakhstan, from 18% in August to 13.2% in January. In first place in terms of production was the United States, which mined 37.8% of the world’s bitcoin in January. Canada and Russia mine 6.48% and 4.66% respectively, and the origin of 9% of the global BTC hashrate has not yet been determined.
The report is based on data obtained in collaboration with four major mining pools: BTC.com, Poolin, ViaBTC and Foundry. According to the CBECI website, the world hashrate map was launched in 2019.
In July 2021, the State Power Corporation of China officially banned the use of electricity to mine any cryptocurrencies in all regions of the country, which led to the flight of miners abroad. And in connection with the launch of the digital yuan by the People’s Bank of China, a ban on transactions with cryptocurrencies was also introduced.