China Continues to Dominate Global Bitcoin Mining, But for How Long?
New research shows that China’s dominance of the total Bitcoin hash rate continues to grow. The nation reportedly now accounts for around 66 percent of all the computing power supporting the Bitcoin network at present.
China has historically been the leader in global Bitcoin mining. However, with large mining operations coming online in the US and Russia in 2020, the industry this time next year might look quite different.
Two Thirds of Bitcoin Mining Happens in China, Says Report
A report by CoinShares, cited by Reuters, claims that Bitcoin miners located in China now control around 66 percent of the total network hash rate. Hash rate is a way of describing the amount of computing power supporting the network.
Total network hash rate has been rising rapidly during 2019. NewsBTC has reported several times about new all-time highs in terms of the amount of computing power supporting the Bitcoin network. With mining interests investing heavily in hardware, it’s clear that Bitcoin miners are confident in the future of the digital currency.
Chris Bendiksen, the head of research at CoinShares, attributes the rising hash rate to Chinese miners deploying higher powered hardware sooner that those located in other countries. Three of the largest manufacturers of mining hardware are from China: Bitmain, MicroBT, and Canaan. Despite how opaque the industry is it seems fair to conclude that a large proportion of the most cutting-edge mining hardware will be deployed in China first.
Although the mining industry in China is growing faster than in other nations, there are large operations in the works that allow other nations to catch up by this time next year. New mega mining farms are being planned in both the US and Russia at the moment.
Bitmain itself has just opened a huge mining operation in the state of Texas. The facility currently has a total capacity of 50MW. However, the Chinese mining giant says it has plans to increase this to 300MW at a later date.
Similarly, Layer 1, a San Francisco-based startup, also plans to launch a mining operation in Texas. This effort seeks to lower the mining industry’s dependence on firms like Bitmain by developing its own cutting-edge hardware and cooling systems.
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Meanwhile, the Russian Mining Company (RMC), owned by the nation’s internet ombudsman also has plans to create a vast new operation in the province of Karelia. CEO of RMC, Dmitry Marinichev, claims that the new facility will command around a fifth of Bitcoin’s total hash rate when it is completed.
Related Reading: Two Bitcoin Mining Startups Merge to Work on World’s Biggest Mining Facility
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