China’s crypto crackdown delivers windfall to global bitcoin ‘miners’

China’s crypto crackdown delivers windfall to global bitcoin ‘miners’

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International bitcoin “miners” are reaping rewards from China’s effective ban on the energy-intensive practice, generating ever higher profits by filling a vacuum left by former Chinese rivals in creating digital tokens.

China’s largest bitcoin-producing provinces launched a clampdown on computer-powered bitcoin mining in June, part of a broader attempt to cut down on carbon emissions and a push against private cryptocurrencies as the country works on its own officially-backed digital coin.

The country had been the world’s biggest producer of bitcoins, accounting for half of the global output. Miners elsewhere say cooling production there has opened up the market to other competitors.

“Think of average daily global bitcoin production as the pie. The size of the pie stayed the same, and each existing miner was able to help themselves to a much bigger piece,” said Shane Downey, chief financial officer of Hut 8 Mining, a Toronto-based listed company.

Bitcoin miners create new coins by using powerful computers to solve mathematical puzzles. The number of coins that can be produced each day is fixed, so with fewer rivals, it is easier and cheaper to make new coins.

The improving economics has meant