Chinese Central Bank Denies Claims of Future Curbing of Mining Activities
In the year of 2017, the Chinese government began a major crackdown on digital currencies, after banning Initial Coin Offerings, and forcing cryptocurrency exchanges to halt all trading, and move to other countries, with more lenient regulation.
Recently, there have been several reports stating that the People’s Bank of China is considering the idea of curbing digital currency mining activities taking place within the country. Several sources mentioned that the PBoC can potentially ask local government to go ahead and regulate the amount of electricity being used by bitcoin miners, thus reducing the size of mining operations. While the PBoC cannot control power usage, it can ask local governments to do so, which would in turn make mining more difficult.
At this moment in time, it is believed that China is the country where the biggest gross of mining activity is being handled. Not long ago, China was also the world’s biggest crypto trading hub, but this changed following the government crackdown.
It is however important to mention the fact that the People’s Bank of China, has clearly stated that it is not considering the idea of shutting down, or minimizing mining activities taking place in the country. Therefore, a publication in China has reported that the PBoC did not hold any meeting to discuss the idea.
On the other side of the spectrum, other reports indicate that there are plans meant to cancel the preferential policies on taxes, electricity prices and land for those who mine digital currencies. Therefore, this showcases that the authorities have a neutral stance on mining, as the government is not planning to boost, or curb the activity.
It has been reported that several mining facility operators in China were visited by authorities, which went ahead and checked electricity consumption alongside business registration documents.
Based on everything that has been outlined so far, it is not yet clear whether the Chinese government has any plans regarding digital currencies in the near future, yet it does want to thoroughly implement the already-existing regulation.