Mining is moving west - The share of hash rate delivered by US miners has increased significantly after China decided to ban cryptocurrencies from its territory.
Cryptocurrency mining: China is giving way to the U.S.
According to data from BTC.com, New York-based mining company Foundry USA is in second place, tied with F2Pool, behind Antpool, which takes the top spot. Foundry USA, which belongs to the Digital Currency Group, delivers a hash rate of 21,929.28 PH/s, representing 13.70% of the power provided by the network, at the time of writing.
The ban on cryptocurrency trading and mining activities in China, has led to a significant migration of hashrate to countries with more favorable regulations such as the US and Kazakhstan.
While China's regulatory pressure has put BTC miners based in the country out of business this year, Statista's data nonetheless indicates that China's contribution to Bitcoin's (BTC) hashrate has steadily declined since September 2019, from 75% of the network's hashrate two years ago, to 46% in April 2021 before the country's cryptocurrency ban.
Mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies in the U.S.
While cryptocurrency adoption in China is being held back by the country's authorities, bitcoin and its younger siblings continue to gain ground in the United States. Data from Coin ATM Radar reveals that Georgia-based Bitcoin Depot is now the largest crypto operator in the world ahead of its Chinese competitors. The majority of crypto ATMs are now run by American companies.
The United States is attempting to regulate cryptocurrencies, though it is not banning them or significantly hindering the development of the sector at this time. The bipartisan infrastructure bill is part of the legal provisions framing cryptocurrencies. In particular, it will require crypto companies and the general public to report cryptocurrency transactions over $10,000 to the U.S. tax authorities starting in 2024.
Will China eventually back down on the ban on mining cryptocurrencies in the country? It would then resign itself to accepting competition from cryptocurrencies to the digital yen as the People's Bank of China continues its seduction operations to promote its digital currency.