On May 22, the South China Morning Post reported that the Chinese government intends to drastically reduce cryptocurrency turnover in the country by imposing a ban on transactions.  However, this is not done because of concern for gamers, they are just the last thing they think about, but because of the desire of the PRC authorities to protect the country's financial system, as well as to achieve their goals in the field of clean energy.  After all, industrial-scale mining farms consume a lot of electricity, leaving a serious carbon footprint, with which China already has big problems.

 Another motive for banning the mining of cryptocurrencies (previously, China banned any financial institutions and payment companies from doing business related to cryptocurrencies) is the activities of the country's Central Bank.  He intends to create his own cryptocurrency Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP), which is currently in the testing stage.

 Beijing's intentions to hit cryptocurrency mining are not unreasonable, because, despite all the promises of the bitcoin community to create the world's first decentralized digital currency, 65% of the hashing power comes from China.  CoinShares Research reports that this is the highest rate in the last 2 years.

 By mid-July, Anhui became the last Chinese province to announce a complete ban on cryptocurrency mining.  Regional authorities said the move would help alleviate severe power shortages over the next three years.  According to Hefei Media Group, if mining had not been stopped, then three years later Anhui's need for electricity increased to 73.14 million kWh with the ability to provide 48.4 million kWh.  The Focus publication claims that cryptocurrency mining is now completely banned in China.

 It is in the Celestial Empire that the largest number of huge hangars with mining farms are located, running on scarce video cards, laptops and even old consoles that consume significant amounts of electricity.  Accordingly, this provokes the extraction of more and more minerals for the operation of thermal power plants, which is at odds with Beijing's plans to switch to "green energy".  By 2030, China plans to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by at least 60-65%, using more and more renewable energy sources.

 Nowhere to run

 Due to the initiative of the PRC authorities, starting from May 24, a huge number of miners began to leave the country in search of states with a more favorable cryptocurrency climate.  The two largest farms BTC.TOP and HashCow have already stopped their activities, and two more large players Bybit and Huobi have stopped serving clients from the Middle Kingdom.

 One of these favorable countries is Iran, where electricity costs 4 times cheaper than in China, and which accounts for up to 4.5% of total bitcoin production.  However, the miners were not lucky here either - due to a lack of electricity and rolling blackouts, on May 26, the Iranian authorities introduced a temporary ban on the operation of mining farms - until September 22.  After all, it was they who caused the increased demand for electricity.

 Interestingly, the growth in demand for cryptocurrencies in Iran was provoked by the fact that in this way the residents of the country decided to save their personal savings due to the serious inflation of the local currency (46.9% per year), a decline in the stock market and a significant decrease in housing prices.

 ILON MASK ALSO AGAINST

 Previously, Elon Musk was an ardent supporter of cryptocurrencies, but in mid-May 2021 he announced on Twitter that Tesla is no longer accepting bitcoins as payment for cars.  Earlier in the same Twitter, Musk provoked an unprecedented growth in the Dogecoin coin, calling it little-known - as a result, it took 4th place in the list of popular electronic coins.

 In April of this year, Tecla boasted on social media that she had achieved a profit of $ 438 million in the first quarter.  For comparison, for the entire 2020, the company earned only $ 31.5 million.  Tesla also said that the growth in car sales was due to the possibility of buying a car for cryptocurrency, in particular.  Elon Musk's statement about the refusal to accept payment for electric cars in bitcoins immediately affected their cost - the price fell by more than 10%.

 The American entrepreneur explained his refusal by the fact that mining and conducting transactions using cryptocurrencies require more and more energy, which provokes an increase in the use of coal.

 And this is the worst fuel of all in terms of emissions.  Cryptocurrency is a good idea ... but it can't cost the environment that much

 Elon Musk

 At the same time, Elon Musk said that he would resume receiving payment for teslamo vehicles in bitcoins as soon as this monetary unit becomes environmentally friendly again.  This refers to the use of renewable energy sources for its production.  However, if you listen to the arguments of bitcoin supporters, who claim that by their actions they produce no more carbon dioxide than the traditional financial system, one thing becomes clear - environmental protection is definitely not in the first place in this whole story.

 WHAT'S WITH BITCOIN MINING IN RUSSIA

 At the same time, in Russia, the mining of cryptocurrencies is developing at an accelerated pace.  Bitriver is the world's largest data center located in the city of Bratsk.  For his own purposes, he rents a building near the Bratsk Aluminum Smelter and the Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Station.  In fact, this is not really a mining farm - the company provides its own facilities for mining cryptocurrencies to clients from the USA, China and Japan.  As noted in the Bloomberg agency, which shared a photo of Bitriver's premises, the decision to open a data center in Bratsk was made by members of the team of billionaire Oleg Deripaska.

 Bratsk was not chosen by chance - this city is ideal for hosting a data center and using it as a bitcoin farm.  The climate there is also cool, which is important for sufficient cooling of capacities, and electricity is cheap due to the presence of a hydroelectric power station nearby.

Sincerely, Lyubov Sultanova.  Join the social network Markethive.  Register using the link;

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