Do You China Might Ban Bitcoin Mining (UPDATED)

Cryptocurrency mining has become the latest target for the Chinese government seeking to phase out industries considered a drag on the country’s economy.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the top economic planning agency in the world’s largest market for bitcoin mining, released on Monday a list of sectors it plans to promote, restrict or eliminate. Crypto mining, the process of creating Bitcoin and other digital currencies through the use of computing power, was namechecked alongside a swarm of other sectors the agency wanted to “eliminate” because they “lacked safe production conditions, seriously wasted resources, polluted the environment,” among other issues.

The thing to keep in mind is that 51% attacks, while they're terrible and undermine confidence, basically just allow double spending," says Green. "This is really bad for merchants and exchanges, and in the long run it could make Bitcoin unusable. But it doesn't allow the attacker to, say, steal everyone's coins. And the cost of a rollback goes up as you go farther back in time.
The crypto sector has drawn close scrutiny from Beijing amid concerns over frauds and speculation, which led to a ban on initial coin offerings in 2017. Meanwhile, environmentalists have protested wasteful energy consumption that bitcoin mining incurs. China was reportedly planning to restrict power supply for some bitcoin miners early last year, according to sources cited by Bloomberg.

This is not the first time China has mulled a clampdown on crypto mining. In January 2018, Beijing was said to ask local governments to discourage bitcoin mining enterprises, according to documents obtained by Chinese financial news publication Yicai. But local officials may be reluctant to embrace such guidance. Much of China’s crypto mining activities happen in its sparse, underdeveloped hinterlands where energy is in the surplus and the governments are eager to boost production. Whether the new order coming from the powerful NDRC will put further deterrent on the industry is up in the air.