China Deals Another Blow to Its Crypto Miners

(Bloomberg) -- China dealt another blow to its beleaguered cryptocurrency industry, with Anhui province becoming the latest to pledge to crack down on the practice of using power-hungry machines to mint Bitcoin and other virtual currencies.

Anhui plans to shut down all crypto mining projects within the next three years due to a power supply shortage, hf365.com reported. The province, which is located in eastern China less than three hours away from Shanghai via high-speed train, will also curb new projects that require large amounts of energy or power consumption and build data centers in an orderly manner, according to the news portal, which belongs a media group affiliated with the government of Hefei, Anhui’s capital. It did not cite anyone.

The latest development, which adds to a long list of actions taken in China recently to rein in the cryptocurrency industry, comes as Bitcoin has been trading toward the lower end of a recent range around $30,000 to $40,000. The digital asset slid as much as 2.6% to $31,665 on Wednesday, its lowest level in more than two weeks.

Late last month, Ya’an, a city with abundant hydropower in Sichuan province, is said to have taken sweeping actions, with a government source saying the city would root out all Bitcoin and Ether mining operations within a year. Inner Mongolia vowed earlier this year to shut all crypto mining projects by April. Yunnan province has also started a probe into illegal electricity use by Bitcoin mining companies, Cailian reported.