Chinese bitcoin mining companies are seeking to transfer their business overseas amid the tightening of power usage regulations, Yicai.com reported.
Bitcoin mining is the process by which bitcoin transactions are verified and added to the public ledger, known as the blockchain, and also the means through which new bitcoins are released.
Though anyone with access to the internet and hardware can do the mining, the largest cost is the power usage.
A bitcoin mine owner in Inner Mongolia said the power in their mine had been cut off for five to six days after they received a notice from the local government to re-identify cloud computing and big data firms who are involved in the multilateral trading of electricity in the area.
While a bitcoin mining operator in Wuhan province said they have found backup power in Malaysia. They will transfer the capacity if the regulation continues to tighten.
Another operator in Anhui province, said they have already cooperated with Kyrgyzstan’s power grid to build up a new bitcoin mine. “The power price there is very cheap, only 3 cents per kilowatt-hour,” the operator added.