China Could Soon Ban Cryptocurrency Mining Citing Wastage of Resources

The Chinese government is soon expected to ban all cryptocurrency mining activities in the country.

It is suggested that the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in China is considering the ban and is asking for public opinions on the revision of the Guiding Catalogue for the Adjustment of Industrial Structure.

For the unacquainted, the Guiding Catalogue for the Adjustment of Industrial Structure is a list of industries in China to segregate them as “encourage, restrict or eliminate.” The list takes care of more than 20 industries.

Among the many industries, bitcoin mining has been added to the list of sectors to abolish entirely due to environmental issues, wastage of resources, unsafe nature of the industry, and non-compliance of the laws and regulations.

The review period will end on May 7, following which the final verdict will be out.

For those who don’t know, the bitcoin initial coin offerings (ICOs) have already been banned by banks in China, which was the hub for crypto mining activities in the world.

China is the largest market for bitcoin mining due to lower electricity costs, cheap labor, and home-grown chipmaking industries.

Currently, while there isn’t a ban on crypto mining, the activity is not approved due to wastage of energy and resources. Hence, the proposal of a ban is of no surprise to the crypto traders.

However, there is no word on how the ban will be executed if it gets imposed.

So stay tuned to Fossbytes for further details.

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