Anhui has reportedly become China’s latest region planning to end cryptocurrency mining. The province is going to shut down all mining facilities due to power supply shortages, according to local media. Another source revealed that the state-run network operator has issued a closure notice for bitcoin farms across the country.
Anhui to Halt Bitcoin Mining Amid Electricity Shortage
The Eastern province of Anhui has joined what’s become a long list of Chinese regions where cryptocurrency miners are no longer welcome. According to media reports, provincial authorities want to shut down mining facilities and also prevent new energy intensive projects in order to address the power deficit in the province.
According to a local news portal owned by the government-affiliated Hefei Media Group, which was quoted by Reuters and Bloomberg, the plan is to close down all crypto mining farms to deal with a serious supply shortage of electricity over the next three years. The report says data centers will be built in the future but in an orderly manner.
Officials expect electricity demand in Anhui to reach 73.14 million kilowatts in 2024. That compares to the current supply of 48.4 million kilowatts, highlighting a growing gap which the local government intends to mitigate. Besides banning crypto mining, the province is also preparing to adjust electricity pricing with the aim of stimulating more economic power consumption.
State Grid Corporation of China Issues Closure Notice for Crypto Mining
Global Times, an English-language newspaper under the People’s Daily, also shared the news on Twitter. The state-run publication added that “By now, nearly 90% of #China’s #Bitcoin mining capacity has been shut down.” Although Anhui is not a coin minting hotspot, its move underscores the ongoing crackdown in the country which has already affected mining hubs such as Sichuan, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Yunnan, and Inner Mongolia.
Meanwhile, Chinese crypto journalist Colin Wu, also known as ‘Wu Blockchain,’ tweeted on Wednesday that the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) has issued a closure notice for cryptocurrency mining operations across the People’s Republic. The measure concerns “all parts of the country” and the post detailed:
"At present, some provinces with insufficient power in China, such as Henan and Anhui, have also begun to implement it."
Wu Blockchain later revealed that Gansu, a province in Northwestern China, has received the notification from the SGCC as well. The network operator “manages the vast majority of China’s electricity, but this notification appears to be formal,” the journalist explained in a comment on the latest developments in the battered crypto mining industry of China.