A majority of the hydropower plants belonging to the Sichuan region of China, which is famous for housing clean energy Bitcoin mining are being listed in the country’s second-hand marketplace for sale.
As crypto miners flee the country, the Chinese online second-hand market has seen a boom in small hydropower plant listings in recent weeks.
According to a report in SCMP, the owners of these tiny hydropower plants are selling their plants due to dwindling demand for Bitcoin mining energy supplies in the country following the government’s crackdown on crypto mining and trading.
Second-hand marketplaces were filled with crypto mining rigs during the early stages of the crackdown, and now that the crackdowns have intensified, even clean energy sources like hydropower facilities are being sold.
The majority of these modest power plants are in Sichuan province, which is a hotspot for environmentally friendly Bitcoin mining.
Many expected the crackdown would be limited to areas where fossil-fuel mining is practiced, but the sudden shutdown of some of the country’s largest mining farms forced many miners to start exploring for alternatives.
The Chinese government’s anti-crypto campaign is nothing new, and it happens at the end of every bull market cycle. The crypto environment in China has been subjected to several restrictions.
The Chinese government outlawed all cryptocurrency exchanges in the nation in 2017. This time, though, the crackdown on miners and the crypto trade is said to be the most severe ever.
Before the crackdown, China accounted for more than half of all Bitcoin mining hashrate. At the same time, the strongest centralization argument against Bitcoin was the enormous concentration of crypto miners in one region.
As a result of the crackdown, the bitcoin network has become more decentralized.
Crypto miners in the country have been forced to transfer to North American countries where electricity is subsidized and available at low prices due to the harsh crackdown.
Apart from North America, Kazakistan has become a popular choice for miners looking to transfer their operations. Other countries can take advantage of the crackdown to lure crypto miners and become a part of the Bitcoin ecosystem.
