The crackdown on Bitcoin continues, and miners have migrated to the United States, Canada, Iceland, and Singapore

While the moves will not significantly affect bitcoin transaction speeds, the bitcoin craze sparked by PayPal founder Peter Thiel took a downturn after news that the People's Bank of China is preparing to crack down on bitcoin miners.

In fact, Reuters reported that China’s central bank held a meeting on regulating electricity use for Bitcoin mining. The topic of energy use for Bitcoin mining is becoming increasingly sensitive nowadays, as the energy consumption required for Bitcoin mining worldwide exceeds the total energy consumption of Qatar in a year.

Bitcoin investors around the world are about to receive some unfortunate news: the People’s Bank of China has called for the establishment of regulations to limit the energy consumption of Bitcoin miners, which has led to a drop in the price of Bitcoin. The news comes after I reported in late December that the small city of Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada, is becoming a gold rush destination for digital currency miners due to its extremely low electricity costs. Indeed, Winnipeg is ranked as the city with the lowest electricity costs in North America and is favored by Bitcoin miners. Some of the biggest Bitcoin players are moving their operations overseas.

While these moves will not significantly affect bitcoin transaction speeds, they could reshape the cryptocurrency mining industry. Bitcoin miners have been flocking to China due to the country's lower electricity costs, chip manufacturing costs and labor costs. But now, due to the decision of the People's Bank of China, they have to look elsewhere.

Bitmain owns two of the largest Bitcoin mining companies in China and also has mining operations in the United States and Canada. Recently, the company's co-founder Wu Jihan said in an interview that it will establish a regional headquarters in Singapore. The third largest mining pool BTC.Top has also opened a branch in Canada; the fourth largest mining pool ViaBTC has also landed in Iceland and the United States.

The moves also highlight how China is losing its dominance in cryptocurrencies as Beijing clamps down on bitcoin mining.

At the same time, the cost of mining Bitcoin is expected to increase at an alarming rate.

Jiang Zhuoer, founder of BTC.top, said that he chose to mine bitcoin in Canada mainly because the cost there is relatively low and the policy is relatively stable. He also said that he was considering mining bitcoin in Iran and Russia.

This has made Bitcoin mining in Canada increasingly popular among Asian and South American Bitcoin investors. Diane Gray, president and CEO of CentrePort, said: "We have also encountered inquiries from large non-Asian companies, some of which have already developed greatly in North America and are looking for large-scale expansion."

Since mining cryptocurrencies requires a lot of energy, the industry has a negative impact on the environment. As CBC News reported, Bitcoin transactions require a lot of energy.

In the past month alone, the amount of electrical energy consumed to mine Bitcoin is estimated to have increased by 29.98%.

If this rate continues, the Bitcoin mining industry will consume all the world’s electrical energy by February 2020.

Bloomberg first reported on Wednesday that the Chinese government plans to tighten control over bitcoin mining. However, the People's Bank of China did not respond to a request for comment. But they could reshape the cryptocurrency mining industry, with some of the biggest bitcoin players moving their operations overseas.