ViaBTC Increases Cloud Mining Fee Citing China's Mining Resource Scarcity

China's cryptocurrency mining pool ViaBTC has revealed a plan to adjust its cloud mining maintenance fee, a move that appears to be affected by a reportedly tightened regulation in the country.

In an online statement published on Jan. 11, ViaBTC said it will temporarily increase the maintenance fee ratio for the AntMiner S9 cloud mining contract from the previous 6 percent to 50 percent. The mining pool currently accounts for 13.8 percent of the global computing power, data shows.

Effective since 8:00 UTC on Jan. 12, such change is said to be a result of the scarcity of mining resources now available in China driven by recent events, according to the statement.

"Recently, due to policy changes, some of our long-term hosting partners are facing a crisis of farm closure as mining resources in Mainland China become more scarce, leading to rocketing costs of our cloud mining operation."

Such notice came just a few days after the company announced to shut down its cryptocurrency mining contract marketplace on Jan. 8. At the time, reports indicated that Chinese regulators are taking steps to reduce tax, electricity and land benefits for cryptocurrency mining companies, an effort to curb their operations.

Upon inquires, ViaBTC didn't wish to give further comment or clarification on such notice.

While the company didn't specify how long this temporary change will be in effect, according to the statement, users have the option to apply for terminating their AntMiner S9 cloud mining contracts before Jan. 18.

Meanwhile the statement said the maintenance fee ratio for AntMiner D3 or L3 contracts remains unchanged at 6 percent but they are not yet available for termination.