US media: Bitcoin mining companies are accelerating their withdrawal from China

According to a report on the Wall Street Journal website on August 22, at the beginning of this summer, China solemnly announced that it would crack down on cryptocurrency mining. Nasdaq-listed BitTorrent accelerated its actions and moved more than 20,000 computers out of China.

Bit Digital and other cryptocurrency mining companies are facing difficulties moving their machines out of a country that previously accounted for two-thirds of the global bitcoin mining energy consumption. These machines, once shaken, can be damaged, so packaging and international shipping has become a difficult task. A new computer costs about $12,000.

The report said the entire process could cost millions of dollars. In recent months, due to rising oil prices and poor transportation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, transportation costs have skyrocketed. Computers entering the United States from China are subject to a 25% tariff. In addition to carefully solving the packaging and transportation issues of the computers, the company must also find facilities with sufficient electricity to place the computers.

The report said that while some companies such as BitTorrent anticipated that China might crack down on mining activities and began relocating machines at the end of last year, Beijing’s decision announced in May and the subsequent corresponding measures by local governments still caught other companies off guard.

The report pointed out that Beijing's latest crackdown has triggered what some people call the "Great Mining Migration". The background of this measure is that the Chinese government has set ambitious goals to reduce coal consumption and shape China's image as a climate defender.

In addition to the United States, Chinese cryptocurrency mining companies are reportedly moving computers to countries such as Kazakhstan and Russia.

Alejandro De La Torre, vice president of the Biyin mining pool, which has been operating in China for a long time, said that he has been looking for a site in the United States and wants to move some mining machines from China to the United States to build a large data center.