The United States has a computing power above 30%, while the number of mining farms in other countries increases. The Chinese government strictly prohibited such activity, but some officials have used state resources to mine digital currencies.
The migration of Chinese Bitcoin miners to the United States has made the hash rate of the North American country already exceed that of China. With 30% of the global computing power, the North American country becomes the epicenter of mining, opening the gap between the two countries.
The ban on mining in China negatively impacted the hash rate of the Bitcoin network, which is spreading abroad. Many of the miners that the Chinese government displaced migrated to various countries such as the United States.
The leading western country concentrates 30% of the hash rate, that is, ⅓ of all the computing power in the world. The new map update from the Center for Alternative Finance at the University of Cambridge confirmed that fact.
Earlier this year, the United States housed about 8% of the global Bitcoin hash rate, which rose significantly to 17% in May. In July, the computing power in the North American country was already above 30%. Meanwhile, the number of mining farms in other countries such as South America and Canada is increasing.
Some Chinese Government Officials Mined Bitcoin with State Resources
The government of the People’s Republic of China strongly prohibited Bitcoin mining in its territory. However, some centers of resistance remain even within the offices of the State. Some officials dared to use national resources to mine Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
However, nothing remains hidden between heaven and earth in China, at least for long. In the coastal province of Zhejiang, the authorities recently announced the launch of an investigation related to Bitcoin mining. They seek to find those responsible for using resources from the State and the Communist Party to do that illegal activity.
The authorities have revealed that around 4,700 IP addresses are on the list of suspected cryptocurrency miners in that province. More than 70 government entities could be using state resources to conduct that illegal business. The regulatory authorities have visited and sanctioned around 20 institutions and have seized the mined assets.
Canadian Authorities Consider Using Bitcoin Mining to Provide Heating
The authorities in the Canadian city of North Vancouver plan to use Bitcoin mining as a heating source. The mining machines would generate heat that could heat more than 100 residential and commercial buildings in that region of 155,000 inhabitants.
Mining company MintGreen, alongside electricity company Lonsdale Energy Corporation, would put the project into operation in 2022. The former considers that the digital boilers can send 96% of their heating to residential and commercial centers.
In the same way, they highlight that that action would help prevent around 20,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases from going into the atmosphere. In that way, the healthy use of Bitcoin mining in Vancouver serves as an example of coexistence between companies dedicated to that business and the population.
Bitcoin is trading at around USD 66,318 after reaching a new all-time high of nearly USD 67,000, according to CoinGecko.
By Alexander Salazar
