China’s top economic planning agency has offered more details about how it will fulfill its promise to root out cryptocurrency mining, saying that in the next phase the crackdown will focus on industrial-scale mines and state-owned entities’ involvement. 6park.com
Authorities will also prioritize the elimination of Bitcoin mining in particular, Meng Wei, a spokesperson for the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), told a Tuesday press conference. 6park.com
11月16日，孟玮在国家发改委11月例行新闻发布会做如上表态。他指出，整治虚拟货币“挖矿”活动，对促进中国产业结构优化、推动节能减排、如期实现碳达峰、碳中和目标具有重要意义。 6park.com
孟玮指出，涉及到的虚拟货币“挖矿”行为能源消耗和碳排放量大，对产业发展、科技进步不具有积极的带动作用，加之虚拟货币生产、交易环节衍生的风险越发突出，其盲目无序发展对推动经济社会高质量发展和节能减排带来严重不利影响。 6park.com
In addition, the NDRC will also force crypto mining projects that currently pay residential electricity prices to pay higher rates as a punishment, Meng said, after being asked about what the NDRC’s next steps will be in its crackdown on the industry. 6park.com
“Virtual currency mining features high energy consumption and carbon emissions, and doesn’t play a positive role in industrial development and technological progress,” Meng said. “The risks derived from the production and trading of virtual currency are becoming more and more prominent. Its blind and disorderly development has a severe adverse impact on promoting high-quality economic and social development, energy conservation and emission reduction.”


A worker inspects a Bitcoin mining machine in a mining pool in Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Southwest China's Sichuan province. Photo: VCG

Cryptocurrency mining gobbles up vast amounts of power both through the electricity consumed by the specialized computer equipment needed to solve the mathematical puzzles that produce the currency and through the energy needed to cool the machines and prevent them from overheating. 6park.com
As China works to implement its pledge to create a low-carbon economy and reach peak carbon emissions by 2030, it has stepped up efforts to clamp down on crypto mining and trading since May this year. 6park.com
In September, the NDRC and 10 other government agencies jointly released a notice that said they will gradually wipe out existing crypto mining projects and prohibit construction of new projects. 6park.com
孟玮指出，涉及到的虚拟货币“挖矿”行为能源消耗和碳排放量大，对产业发展、科技进步不具有积极的带动作用，加之虚拟货币生产、交易环节衍生的风险越发突出，其盲目无序发展对推动经济社会高质量发展和节能减排带来严重不利影响。 6park.com
Authorities in China’s major cryptocurrency mining hubs have sprung into action. The Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous regions, and Qinghai, Yunnan and Sichuan provinces all announced rectification campaigns that include a ban on new mining projects, along with orders for existing mines to close and for power plants to cut off supplies to suspected mining projects. 6park.com
The broader crackdown is also concerned with the financial risks that cryptocurrencies could engender. Regulators have said that cryptocurrency trading is speculative and risky, and facilitates money laundering, fraud, illegal cross-border fund transfers and tax evasion. 6park.com
11月10日，国家发改委组织召开虚拟货币“挖矿”治理专题视频会议，通报虚拟货币“挖矿”监测和整治情况，部署了下一阶段工作，要求各省区市切实负起属地责任，建制度、抓监测，对本地区虚拟货币“挖矿”活动进行清理整治，严查严处国有单位机房涉及的“挖矿”活动。 6park.com
关于下一步的整治计划，孟玮指出，对执行居民电价的单位，若发现参与虚拟货币“挖矿”活动，将研究对其加征惩罚性电价，形成持续整治虚拟货币“挖矿”活动的高压态势。