China Goes After Camouflaged Crypto Miners Ahead of Winter Season

China is ramping up its fight against cryptocurrency miners – specifically those in disguise.

Citing “people with knowledge of the situation,” a report by Bloomberg claims that the country’s regulatory forces are now targeting those miners who claimed to be data researchers and storage facilities. Illegal mining activity has been discovered in colleges, research institutions, and data centers in several provinces. 

While some miners left the country since the beginning of the crackdown on the crypto industry, others have tried staying in business by switching to lesser-known coins and decentralized storage technologies. One such miner said that he keeps switching to new facilities for his equipment, with not more than 100 machines active in any one location, so to avoid regulators noticing the surge in power usage.   

People familiar with the matter claimed that a reason behind the urgency with which the authorities are cracking down on these miners is the concern over the country’s power supplies for the incoming winter season.  

In Hebei province, local agencies asked for companies to avoid crypto mining with their computing systems, as well as for a self-compliance check before the end of this month, said the report, citing a Wednesday statement.

The Hebei cyberspace commission is quoted as saying that a massive expansion of crypto mining would “seriously affect economic and social development and directly threaten national security.” Furthermore, its power consumption hampers China’s emissions-cutting policy, while crypto trading disrupts financial order, said the statement.

The commission will cooperate with other government departments to crack down on virtual currency mining and trading, with the province’s educational department, public security department, local financial regulatory bureau, and communications administration also set to join, reported Gadgets360.

They further aim to increase the information collection from the general public and whistle-blowers. 
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