Chinese authorities have apparently been shutting down Bitcoin mining farms in response to the spreading coronavirus, according to Jiang Zhuoer, operator of mining pool BTC.Top. Zhuoer revealed last week on his Weibo page that his mining facility has been shut down by local police, with other mining operators reporting the same. The news is a strange reaction to the problem, but highlights the concern that Chinese officials have regarding the virus and its potential to worsen.
“What’s the Benefit”
Zhuoer’s Weibo posts were seeing by Finance Magnates, in which Zhuoer questions the rationale behind the move:
I have a mine in a remote suburb. The police came and forced all the mining authorities to shut down. It is understandable to take a regular…roll call, and strictly prohibit going out, but what’s the benefit of shutting down the mining machine to prevent the epidemic?
Zhuoer added, tongue in cheek, that if the trend of shutting down mines continued, there would be more than just coronavirus casualties to worry about:
Maybe all the other factories have been shut down, and we are no exception. If [this continues], most people will die from poverty before they die from the epidemic.
Indeed, it does seem to be a strange move to actively stop Chinese miners from operating, unless officials were seeking a reason to do so. This would seem odd too, however, as they could just do that anyway without needing an excuse.
On the plus side, any reduction in Chinese mining output would easily be made up by other miners, meaning that Bitcoin’s hashrate is by no means in peril.
Bitcoin Largely Unaffected
While the coronavirus may not have had an impact on Bitcoin itself, which has seen a 36% increase since the first case was discovered on December 31, 2019, it has had an impact on crypto in other ways, with Binance’s Blockchain Week in Vietnam being postponed this week. Hopefully the virus can be contained soon and the world, not just the crypto world, can return to its usual state of controlled chaos.
