Chinese province Xinjiang cracks down on Bitcoin mining activities

China’s Xinjiang province has ordered some Bitcoin miners to shut down their operations with immediate effect.

On June 9, the Reform and Development Commission in the Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture issued notices to authorities in the Zhundong Economic-Technological Development Park, ordering them to shut down all crypto mining operations by 2:00 pm (China time) on Wednesday.

Due to its high capacity of fossil fuel energy, the 15,500 square km park houses some of the largest Bitcoin mining facilities in the country. However, following comments by China’s Financial Stability and Development Committee (FSDC) last month that it would crack down on Bitcoin mining and trading, it appears officials are moving to fully enforce the ban.

The notice cited the "Measures for the Energy Conservation Examination of Fixed-Asset Investment Projects" passed by the country’s National Reform and Development Commission as its backing to enforce the order.

While it is difficult to give an exact figure on how much energy Bitcoin mining operations consume in the Changji Prefecture, the Zhundong development park is undoubtedly a major hub for crypto mining operations and the impact of the ban is already taking a toll on Bitcoin’s mining hash rate.

Hash rate has dropped by 25% on Antpool, the world’s largest mining pool. Some sources claim that nearly half of the company’s mining farms are located in Xinjiang.