Bitcoin Mining is experiencing a significant resurgence in China even though the activity was formally banned in 2021, according to Reuters.
After almost disappearing from the global landscape, China returned to third position with an estimated 14% share of the global mining sector in October, according to the Hashrate index.
This resurgence is fueled by miners and companies operating quietly in regions with abundant and cheap electricity, particularly in Xinjiang, where excess electricity and the rapid construction of data centers create favorable conditions.
Miners told Reuters that electricity surpluses in places like Xinjiang and Sichuan were encouraging new underground projects and that some former miners had returned. Data provider CryptoQuant estimates that 15-20% of global mining capacity now operates in China.
According to the article, Canaan, a leading producer of mining rigs, has seen a sharp rebound in domestic sales, helped by rising Bitcoin prices and uncertainty surrounding U.S. tariffs that have slowed foreign demand.
Although the Chinese government has not publicly renounced its position, its approach appears to be softening. Hong Kong’s stablecoin legislation and discussions of yuan-backed stablecoins suggest a more flexible view of digital assets.
Hashprice hits all-time low
The price of Bitcoin hash fell to a new all-time low on Friday. This metric represents the revenue a miner can expect to earn with a given amount of hashrate. According to Luxor, the hash price fell to $34.2 PH/s.
Hashprice is determined by four main inputs: network difficulty, bitcoin price, block subsidy, and transaction fees.
Hash price generally increases when bitcoin price or fee volume increases, it decreases when mining difficulty increases.
With bitcoin down more than 30% since its October peak, combined with moderate transaction fees and a network hashrate just above a zettahash (10% below recent highs), miner revenues have reached new lows. The next difficulty adjustment is expected on Wednesday and is expected to decrease by just over 2%.
