Leading Bitcoin Machine Manufacturer to Halt Sales in China Operations Following Crypto Crackdown: Report

Bitmain, the Beijing, China-headquartered manufacturer of Bitcoin mining machines is reportedly considering the suspension of sales in mainland China. The move comes after China imposed a blanket ban on crypto activities earlier last week, categorising them as punishable offenses. Bitmain has not made any announcements about this as of now, but three people familiar with the matter have revealed the information to the media on the condition of anonymity. Bitmain is also reportedly planning to withdraw production from China for the same reasons.

Founded in 2013, Bitmain owned a whopping 46 percent of the market share in the segment of crypto mining machines till June 2020, according to a research report by Bitmex at the time.

Earlier, Chinese e-commerce major Alibaba announced that it was seizing the sale of all crypto-mining machines via its platform in China, various reports said.

In addition, China-based Ethereum mining pool Sparkpool declared the end of China operations following the country's crackdown on crypto trading. The company backed its decision as a way to safeguard the crypto assets stored by Chinese users on its servers.

But while China is cracking down on cryptocurrency citing the environmental impact, other countries and, cities which support digital currency are trying to find ways to curb the environmental impact of crypto mining instead. Francis Suarez, the mayor of US' Miami city, for instance, has proposed to set up Bitcoin mining centres near a nuclear plant in Florida state aiming to shrink the carbon footprint of miners.