What Happens If China Bans Bitcoin Mining?

[Vertex_ICO]

The struggles of Bitcoin seem to be unending, with many uncertainties hovering over the new technology. Earlier this year, the Chinese government intensified efforts towards the banning of Bitcoin mining. Some of the reasons stated includes the electricity consumption, and the environmental threats of the mining process. This has raised a lot of questions as to what could become of the technology, considering the role of China when it comes to Bitcoin mining. So we ask, what happens if China bans Bitcoin mining?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6sc-XRY3RA

How Relevant is China in Bitcoin Mining?

Over 75% of the mining pools in the Bitcoin network are located in China. This has automatically made the region a very important one for Bitcoin as a whole. It now looks as if Bitcoin depends on China to survive. This is why every rumour, news or event coming out of the Asia-Pacific region as a whole is usually of great concern to the industry.

China is home to the biggest mining equipment manufacturing company in the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency industry. Bitmain, which is a hardware manufacturing company that specialises in computer chips, is located in Beijing. When it comes to Bitcoin mining equipment, Bitmain has no competition. It is responsible for shipping billions of ASIC mining rigs to different parts of the world. This accounts to over 75% of the equipment that is available in the industry.

As a matter of interest, most of this equipment doesn’t go too far from the source. Favourable weather and affordable electricity mean that many Bitcoin mining farms prefer to setup in and around the China region. Hydroelectricity and coal are cheaper sources of power, although the environmental implications of coal do not go down well with the immediate society. The pollution that it causes is among the reasons why China is considering the ban, as mentioned above.

Why are Bitcoin Mining Farms located in China?

The Bitcoin mining industry of today exists more in the form of mining pools. Instead of having individuals, or small companies running independent mining platforms, resources are contributed in a unified front. An example of this is Bitclub Network. Different units come together and contribute resources so that they can compete effectively in finding blocks. When they do, the rewards are then shared based on individual contribution. This is what informs the need for building gigantic farms, and why a region like China with favourable atmospheric and cost tolerance is preferred.

https://twitter.com/business/status/1117205198684823552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.embedly.com%2Fwidgets%2Fmedia.html%3Ftype%3Dtext%252Fhtml%26key%3Da19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07%26schema%3Dtwitter%26url%3Dhttps%253A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fbusiness%2Fstatus%2F1117205198684823552%26image%3Dhttps%253A%2F%2Fi.embed.ly%2F1%2Fimage%253Furl%253Dhttps%25253A%25252F%25252Fpbs.twimg.com%25252Fmedia%25252FD4EcM_5UwAEY75R.jpg%2526key%253Da19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07

Regulatory tolerance has also enabled this attraction towards China, even though the ban on different aspects of the crypto industry have been pointers towards a similar take on Bitcoin mining. Exchanges have been banned, and so have other areas that have to do with Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. What most practitioners in the affected areas did was simply relocate their businesses.

When it comes to Bitcoin mining, things can be a bit more complicated. Finding another conducive region that would tolerate the kind of mining activities that go on in China will not be easy. Also, moving the gigantic infrastructure that is used for mining will not be an easy task either. These are some of the issues that come to mind when considering what happens if China bans Bitcoin mining.

Are There Other Options Apart From China?

If China goes ahead to ban Bitcoin mining, a number of scenarios are likely to play out. The network will temporarily lose over 75% of mining power or hash rate that comes from the region. What this means, is that for that while fewer transactions will be carried out, and the rate of creating new Bitcoins will drop significantly. Once new rigs have been formed and implemented, network activity can return to normal.

From an economic perspective of supply and demand, if supply drops, there will be scarcity, and the price of Bitcoin will be expected to grow. But there is more to these things than meets the eye.

In view of the implications and possibilities, just like other aspects of the industry found new grounds to operate from, Bitcoin miners are already beginning to look elsewhere. Bitmain has already set up operations in inner Mongolia, Iceland is becoming home to some major mining companies, and Canada is being studied as a possible destination for others.

Is Bitcoin Really Bigger Than China?

Indeed, the role of China in the industry cannot be neglected, it has served as one of the most vibrant regions for Bitcoin development so far. However, the level of uncertainty that emanates from this same region, and the tendency of the government of China to dish out instant regulatory measures, is a threat to the technology.

Definitely, any ban on Bitcoin mining in China will cause some shake up in the industry. The possibility of it alone is already causing some movement as described above. But like the changes that we have seen before now, as much as the role of China has been significant, Bitcoin is designed to be bigger than one particular country or region.

With peer-to-peer trading platforms like Vertex.Market catering to people in over 200 countries, maybe it already is.

In considering what happens if China bans Bitcoin mining, if it goes through there will likely be some shake-up in the industry. However, just like we have seen before, the technology has the capacity to shake off the effects, and move on with development. It could be another reminder of “the many lives of Bitcoin”.

https://medium.com/@official_83664/what-happens-if-china-bans-bitcoin-mining-7f0dfa276ded

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[CryptoBry]

Bitcoin mining is a big and profitable enterprise with many players based in China exploiting the cheap power and manpower rates. In case China will finally decide to make the threat of ban come into effect, then there will be a diaspora from China to other suitable countries. And I think the transfer had actually started in 2017 albeit slowly as players felt that eventually China may ban the mining in the country for different grounds. That China has not yet decided on this matter is even a little surprise to me. Perhaps the leadership of China has realized that bitcoin mining is bringing in good revenues anyway and that they can one day leverage this power and influence for various applications. I would be happy to see other countries also entering this industry so we can avoid monopoly or concentration (centralization)  of power and influence in a single country.

[btc_angela]

Then the whole mining system will collapse, that's what will happen

I doubt that it will collapse, it may have significant effect on the ecosystem. But to say that it will fall just because of China banning bitcoin mining is absurd. And I'm sure big mining companies inside China has already a plan B in case the government made that bold move. At least if this happens, then it can break the monopoly and I'm sure there will be companies and countries will to take the lead.

[Viper1]

The network will temporarily lose over 75% of mining power or hash rate that comes from the region. What this means, is that for that while fewer transactions will be carried out, and the rate of creating new Bitcoins will drop significantly. Once new rigs have been formed and implemented, network activity can return to normal.

Whoever wrote that doesn't seem to know anything about difficulty. Difficulty adjusts based on the previous 2016 blocks. So if "suddenly" there was a lot less hash power, then transactions would slow down as it was adjusting and once 2016 blocks had been solved, it would be operating like before. Bitcoin doesn't need China to carry on. That's one of the beauties of the design. I think there's even been some discussions that if something catastrophic happened, there might be a release to quickly adjust the difficulty but who knows if they could agree to that or not.

[Mandoy]

If China bans bitcoin mining inside their political jurisdiction then the mining farms in their area will just transfer to another country to mine. Bitcoin data centers have already a taste of how profitable bitcoin mining is and will not be stopped even if the state will not allowed them to mine. They will simply transfer their equipment and facilities out of China and continue to mine. Bitcoin mining is unstoppable except if all bitcoin blocks have been mined.

[Casdinyard]

Perhaps the leadership of China has realized that bitcoin mining is bringing in good revenues anyway and that they can one day leverage this power and influence for various applications. I would be happy to see other countries also entering this industry so we can avoid monopoly or concentration (centralization)  of power and influence in a single country.

Probably they already realize and knew how big the revenue is hence I don't see any reason for China to bring down bitcoin mining.
However, if China had their change of mind I guess Russia is ready to take over as they are the second-largest mining farm and so it will not be hard to eventually add mining rigs.

Then the whole mining system will collapse, that's what will happen

That so impossible. Of course, it may have an adverse effect but not for long.

[Astvile]

Then the whole mining system will collapse, that's what will happen

Why it will collapse? is 100% of the miners are in china?
Yes, bitcoin mining and the altcoin mining industry in China is big and contributes a huge chunk of miner pool in the system but that doesn't mean that when miners from China stopped mining bitcoin the whole mining system will collapse. Even though China has a huge number of miners there are still other countries that contribute a good amount in the mining business.

[ChrisPop]

China banning Bitcoin would definitely have an impact on the cryptocurrency industry, not just because a big part of the mining farms are located there, but because the majority of world's population is located there. Mining farms will probably just sell the rigs to farms in the nordic countries or simply relocate. I think using alternative sources like geotermal, solar and wind energy are the way to go in crypto mining. Also it is much more efficient to set up a farm in a cold place like Finland or what about Greenland? - there is no one there so could be a viable place to build up a powerful farm.

[inanilujimi]

Bitcoin mining is a big and profitable enterprise with many players based in China exploiting the cheap power and manpower rates. In case China will finally decide to make the threat of ban come into effect, then there will be a diaspora from China to other suitable countries. And I think the transfer had actually started in 2017 albeit slowly as players felt that eventually China may ban the mining in the country for different grounds. That China has not yet decided on this matter is even a little surprise to me. Perhaps the leadership of China has realized that bitcoin mining is bringing in good revenues anyway and that they can one day leverage this power and influence for various applications. I would be happy to see other countries also entering this industry so we can avoid monopoly or concentration (centralization)  of power and influence in a single country.

I wonder why they do that when electricity is clearly not free but the miners themselves pay for electricity.
that is what I think that the Chinese government wants to take over the work of miners so that the government can use bitcoin to make money.
I'm not cynical, but this is China always wants to master anything that can benefit it.

[uray]

The struggles of Bitcoin seem to be unending, with many uncertainties hovering over the new technology. Earlier this year, the Chinese government intensified efforts towards the banning of Bitcoin mining. Some of the reasons stated includes the electricity consumption, and the environmental threats of the mining process.

China might be having huge mining farms but so does the rest of the world, the reason to ban due to electricity consumption and environment threats by any country are misdirection because the majority of the pollution from China stems from coal fired power plants and they have not taken any steps to control that and they are blaming bitcoin mining farms as environment threat is a joke  .

This has raised a lot of questions as to what could become of the technology, considering the role of China when it comes to Bitcoin mining. So we ask, what happens if China bans Bitcoin mining?

Nothing happens, you do not need big mining farms to be truly decentralized  , if there is a need i am sure people will start running the node from their homes to help the network because this market helped many to make a fortune and they will do it as a token of respect to carry on the process to help the network.

[teosanru]

If China in any way happens to ban crypto minning. It still won't be able to exercise his powers completely over all the miners. There are two reasons as to it:

• Big Miners can move abroad: Big Miners who can mine a fortune out of cryptocurrencies will try to leave the countries to nearby islands like Taiwan and Fiji or even Mauritius which can act as tax heaven countries.
  
• Generally speaking Miners don't require assistance of government in any way to mine cryptos in the first place so there is no way they can stop it unless they are willing to raid every house which is suspicious for mining. There is no way to trace such mining activities. It will be a hard time for them implementing law.

[nh0xxpr01]

The point is that they won't ban

[zviadits]

If BTC mining in China is banned then collapse will occur. However, miners may well transfer their equipment to other countries and the mining industry will recover. However, how long will it take?

[migws]

I think if China bans mining, then this will not create a collapse. It will have a negative effect but it will be restored.
I have a thought that if China bans mining, the country will lose a lot than if China legalized mining.

[Reosta_]

Considering that 75% of the mining pools is located on China, if China government decides to ban Bitcoin mining, the Bitcoin mining industry can go into a chaos period I think. Bitmain is building data centers for Bitcoin miners in different countries and this could be effective on preventing such possibility for the industry.

[Chrystora123]

Then the whole mining system will collapse, that's what will happen

collapse only in China is certain!!   but the big miners must have thought of a way out that they would do..  IMO, there are only two choices they can choose  if Chinese government really Ban Bitcoin mining, that is mining in a very remote area (still in China) or cooperating and opening a new mine with miners in other countries that are more accepting of Bitcoin.

[Kyraishi]

Think we'd lose a lot of miners for sure, for at least a little while. We've already seen how much mining operations China owns and it makes up a lot of our blockchain.

If this was to happen, most mining companies with millions of hardware would either just cut their profits and quit the scene, or secretly still be active and risk punishments, or move to another region with cheaper electricity or a viable way for them to generate their own electricity.

It'll be one of their most stupid movies if they where to ban mining, Chinese companies and the governments make a decent penny off that.

[DatKing]

To tell the truth, I am a little scared of the possibility that China could ban Bitcoin mining in the near future. Bitmain seems to have a plan B for that. Bitmain is on the path of building new mining centers on different places to make Bitcoin Network stronger.

[Ailmand]

Other countries might take over, and start a big mining farm. China had been on and off when it comes to crypto, announcing they will ban it, and then later they will take back what they have announced. They are holding the biggest mining farm and it will somehow affect the whole system, but I think in time we can adjust since there are still other miners and as I, 've said other countries might take over and start creating a mining farms.

[rodel caling]

If I am not wrong since 2017 china government decide a total banned for all bitcoin related works. So nothing  to worry and panic for that news for me is that an old news even china are decide to get out of the world of digital cryptocurrency is now still stronger in the market. So be coll and do not panic just be calm yourself.