China bans bitcoin mining

The Communist Party of China is undertaking a crackdown on bitcoin mining according to leaked documents ordering local governments to “lead mining factories to quit gradually.”

China’s Leading Group of Internet Financial Risks Remediation wants bitcoin miners to make an “orderly exit,” asking local authorities to come up with plans by the 10th of January and then report on progress on the 10th of each month.

Leaked documents demanding “orderly exit”
The authenticity of another leaked document from the internet-finance regulator’s Xinjiang office that likewise demands progress on miner’s exit by the 5th day of each month was confirmed by Quartz.

The China based 8btc quotes “a man close to the central bank” as stating:

“The Bitcoin trading platform has been shut down in China. It is an unrecognized area, the same with the mining-related peripheral industry. The spirit is to guard against risks and serve the real economy. While bitcoin mining does not serve the real economy.

There are many irregularities such as environmental problems, potential safety issues and operation without business registration in the current bitcoin mining industry. Therefore, departments are making joint effort to rectify this.”

Bloomberg reports miners are already moving out operations to US, Canada, Iceland or other parts of the world outside of China:

“Bitmain, which runs China’s two largest bitcoin-mining collectives, is setting up regional headquarters in Singapore and now has mining operations in the U.S. and Canada, Wu Jihan, the company’s co-founder, said in an interview. BTC.Top, the third-biggest mining pool, is opening a facility in Canada and ViaBTC, ranked No. 4, has operations in Iceland and America, their founders said.”