Crypto Crackdown: Bitmain to Stop Shipping Antminers to China This October

Bitmain, the largest Bitcoin mining equipment manufacturer in China has announced it will stop shipping its flagship product, the Antimer, to China in response to the regulatory crackdown ongoing in the country. 

As announced by the firm, the suspension of its Antminer shipping will commence on Monday 11th of October, and it will only affect its customer demands in mainland China. Bitmain said that Taiwan and Hong Kong will be unaffected by the new decision. In a bid to further identify with the federal government’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions, the company said it has acquired clean energy-derived indicators to help monitor its carbon utilizations.

“Actively responding to the local government policies of the company’s entities has been Bitmain’s business strategy all along,” the company said in its announcement, adding that “In response to the Chinese government’s carbon neutral policy, Bitmain has completed several batches of carbon indicator purchases. The indicators are mainly derived from clean energy power generation projects in Yunnan, Xinjiang, and other places in China. 2021 Nian 11 Yue 9 days -10 days, the continent will host bits ‘in Dubai 2021 World Mining of Summit Digital’, then we will announce the use of these carbon emission targets.”

Besides the move to halt its machine sales to the Chinese region, Bitmain said it is also exploring innovative alternative energy-saving production models, a development that will help its customers worldwide.

“In the future, we will continue to work to reduce the energy efficiency ratio of core chips, purchase carbon emission indicators worldwide, guide customers to use clean energy, and contribute our strength to the green and sustainable development of mankind,” the company said.

Overhauling Crypto Mining Energy Demands

It is no doubt that mining Bitcoin (BTC), and other Proof-of-Work (PoW) cryptocurrencies can be energy-intensive, and beyond China, this has largely caused regulators to maintain an unwelcoming stance toward the digital currency ecosystem in the past.

Things are beginning to change, however, as more miners are beginning to pursue a sustainable energy source to power their operations. As a major detour from the norm, El Salvador is exploring geothermal energy sources from the country’s rich volcanoes as the primary power generation option for its proposed Bitcoin mining adventure. There are projections that more miners will be joining the renewable energy options in the near future.