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According to a new report, the Chinese government did not manage to remove cryptocurrency activities as part of a cryptocurrency ban last year as China has returned as one of the world's largest Bitcoin (BTC) mining centers.
China has become the second largest provider of Bitcoin hashrate since January 2022, months after local authorities banned all cryptocurrency activities in the country, according to the latest update from CBECI.
The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) reported a surprising resurgence and added that Bitcoin Mining instruments in China accounted for 21.1% of the total global BTC mining hashrate distribution as of early 2022, behind only the United States, which produced 37.8% of the total hashrate as of January. On the other hand, countries previously considered to be stronger bitcoin mining hubs, such as Kazakhstan, Canada and Russia, are far behind with 13.22%, 6.48% and 4.66%, respectively.
China was once the world's largest Bitcoin mining country, with the local BTC hashrate accounting for more than 75% in 2019. The Hash rate then plummeted to zero in July and August 2021, after a series of cryptocurrency mining farms closed in the country.
Despite the cryptocurrency ban in September 2021, the share hashrate rose to 22.3% in September and did not fall below 18% during the period analyzed.
CBECI project leader Alexander Neumueller said that the new data is enough to conclude that Bitcoin mining activity still exists in China, namely:
"Our data confirms in the experience of the claims of industry insiders that Bitcoin mining is still taking place in the country. Although mining activity in China is a far cry from its previous peak, the country still appears to account for about a fifth of the total hashrate."
The rapid recovery in Chinese mining activity may be due to miners here hiding their locations by taking advantage of virtual private networks (VPNs) or other proxy services.
