After the local authorities banned all crypto operations in the country last year, China still hosts 21% of the entire worldwide Bitcoin hash rate.
According to a new study, the Chinese government was unable to shut down cryptocurrency operations as part of its crypto ban last year, as China has re-emerged as one of the world’s largest Bitcoin (BTC) mining centres.
According to the latest update from the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI) published with Cointelegraph on Tuesday, China became the second-largest Bitcoin hash rate generator as of January 2022, months after the local authorities prohibited all crypto operations in the country.
According to the data, bitcoin miners in China accounted for 21.1 % global BTC mining hash rate distribution as of early 2022, trailing only the United States, which produced a 37.8 % hash rate in January.
China was formerly the world’s top Bitcoin mining country, accounting for more than 75% of all BTC hash rate power in 2019. Following a series of crypto mining farm shutdowns throughout the country, the hash rate dropped to 0% in July and August 2021.
Despite the crypto prohibition in September 2021, the hash rate share increased to 22.3 % that month and did not fall below 18% during the observation period. According to CBECI project lead Alexander Neumueller, the new data is sufficient to show that Bitcoin mining is still active in China, stating:
“Our data empirically confirms the claims of industry insiders that Bitcoin mining is still ongoing within the country. Although mining in China is far from its former heights, the country still seems to host about one-fifth of the total hash rate.”
Russia no longer one of the top three major miners
The most recent CBECI report also shows a modest decrease in hash rate share in Kazakhstan, the world’s third-largest BTC mining hotspot. Kazakhstan’s BTC hash rate share fell from 18% in August to 13.2% in January.
According to CBECI data, miners currently mine up to 9% of the global BTC hash rate in unspecified locations. Canada and Russia are the next two main mining hubs, accounting for 6.5% and 4.7% of total mining output, respectively.
In addition to sliding out of the top three countries in terms of BTC hash rate power, Russia saw its actual hash rate fall from 13.6 EH/s in August to 8.6 EH/s in January.
Georgia, Texas, and Kentucky are the states with the highest BTC hash rate production in the United States.
The new CBECI update provides more specific insights into the hash rate distribution at the state level in the world’s largest Bitcoin mining market.
According to the data, Georgia, Texas, and Kentucky have the highest hash rate, accounting for 32%, 11.2% and 10.95%, respectively. Together, the three states account for more than half of the total hash rate in the United States.
According to the data, significant mining activity can also be discovered in states such as New York, California, North Carolina, and Washington.
CBECI analyzes data from four mining pools
The Cambridge Digital Assets Programme, a research initiative which hosts the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, has released the CBECI.
The data included in the analysis were collected in partnership with four major mining pools: BTC.com, Poolin, ViaBTC, and Foundry. According to the CBECI website, the sample size for the analyzed mining pool data has ranged between 32% and 38% of Bitcoin’s total hash rate since the mining map’s release in 2019.
“We are continually seeking ways in which to improve our data in order to increase the reliability of our estimates. The best way for us to do this is to welcome additional contributing mining pools, so we would encourage other mining pools to reach out and get involved,” said the CBECI project lead.
