China Stepping Up Campaign Against Hidden Crypto Miners: Report

China is said to be stepping up its campaign against crypto miners that are continuing to operate their businesses in hiding, according to a report by Bloomberg.

• Chinese authorities are targeting mining operations that have disguised themselves as data researchers or storage facilities, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
• Inspections are being carried out across several Chinese provinces in colleges and research institutions.
• Concern over potential power shortages for the coming winter is one of the motivations for the country’s intensified crackdown on crypto mining.
• China began taking harsher steps against the mining industry earlier this year, shutting operations in regions such as Qinghai and Sichuan, which are rich in the coal and hydropower that miners were using to fuel their operations.
• Many miners have responded by moving out of China, with the U.S. and Kazakhstan appearing to be among the most preferred destinations.
• Those that have remained in China appear to be taking more creative steps to continue operating while escaping scrutiny from authorities. One unidentified miner cited by Bloomberg, for example, regularly switches to new facilities to house his equipment, never holding more than 100 machines at one location to make irregular power surges more difficult to spot.

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