Hebei province joins block reward mining clampdown in China

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Hebei province has become the latest region in China to crack down on digital currency block reward mining. The cyberspace administration in the northern Chinese province has started a special campaign targeting the miners, stating they go against China’s goal of becoming carbon neutral.

China has continued to ramp up efforts against block reward mining in recent months. Some of the provinces that were mining havens such as Sichuan, Xinjiang and Yunnan have taken major steps to boot out the miners from China, leading to shutdowns and relocations to other countries. According to local reports, Hebei has now joined the bandwagon.

The cyberspace administration in Hebei, which is in Northern China and borders the capital Beijing, has cited environmental and financial concerns for booting out the miners. It has ordered state-owned companies and government agencies to audit their systems to ensure that no such activity is being conducted covertly.

Financial regulators and internet service providers must also do more to stamp out the miners, it stated, as reported by Reuters. This includes stepping up the collection of reports from the public and whistle-blowers. They were given until the end of September to get the measures in place, with the administration revealing that those caught mining starting in October will be punished accordingly.

In a statement this week, the cyberspace administration remarked, “Mining cryptocurrency consumes huge amounts of energy, which goes against China’s carbon neutral peak objectives.”

It sounded a warning on the impact that digital currencies could have on Hebei and China if left unchecked, “Its exchange and transaction are highly disruptive to the nation’s financial order, and the financial risk is big … Its proliferation and spread will seriously affect economic and social development, and directly threaten national security,” the cyberspace administration added.

And it doesn’t end there for China. According to Bloomberg, the government is now targeting miners who disguise themselves as research institutions and data centers. Citing sources who requested for anonymity, the outlet revealed that concerns over the country’s power supply for the upcoming winter season is one of the reasons for the renewed urgency.

Watch: CoinGeek Zurich panel, BSV is Green Bitcoin: Energy Consumption & Environmental Sustainability