China to shut down over 90% of its Bitcoin mining capacity after local bans

Inside a Bitcoin mining factory. -Photo: AFP

BEIJING, June 21 (Global Times): Many Bitcoin mines in Southwest China's Sichuan Province - one of China's largest cryptocurrency mining bases - were closed as of Sunday, according to after local authorities ordered a halt to mining in the region on Friday amid an intensified nationwide crackdown against cryptocurrency mining.

The ban also means that more than 90 percent of China's Bitcoin mining capacity is estimated to be shut down, at least for the short term, as regulators in other key mining hubs in China's north and southwest regions have taken similar harsh steps.