US media: China bans Bitcoin mining farm owners, and those who flee abroad will not be welcomed by US local governments

Since May this year, the Chinese government has cracked down on Bitcoin trading and mining, forcing Bitcoin miners to look for other places. Florida and Texas in the United States hope to attract Chinese Bitcoin miners to settle down with cheap electricity. However, experts are worried that in addition to short-term economic benefits, mining by miners will not only not bring long-term economic benefits to the local area, but may also bring legal and energy environmental risks.

Bitcoin is priced in US dollars

The Associated Press (AP) reported that Francis Suarez, mayor of Miami, Florida, told Fox Business Channel on July 27 that Miami has now become the world's Bitcoin capital, and he hopes to inspire people to move to Miami and become part of Miami's technology ecosystem by creating new technology products.

Many of those he was referring to were Chinese bitcoin “miners.” In mid-June, Suarez told CNBC that Miami was working to lower its electricity costs in hopes of attracting Chinese bitcoin miners to move to Florida by touting the city’s essentially unlimited supply of cheap nuclear energy.

China has long been the region with the highest concentration of cryptocurrency "mining" hardware and computing power in the world. CNBC estimates based on past data that approximately 65% ​​of global mining activities were carried out in China last year.

Since mining consumes a lot of electricity, cheap electricity supply is one of their primary considerations. According to data from the U.S. Department of Labor in November 2019, the residential electricity bill in Miami is about 10.7 cents per kilowatt-hour, which is lower than the national average of 13.3 cents per kilowatt-hour.

In addition to Miami, Texas, a major energy state, is also an ideal candidate for Chinese Bitcoin miners. The state generated nearly 8,600 megawatt-hours of electricity in 2019, ranking eighth in the United States.

Chinese Bitcoin miners moving to the United States has increased local electricity consumption, and the impact on local energy supply and the environment in the United States is also part of analysts' concerns.

In June this year, Miami Mayor Suarez emphasized in an interview with CNBC that the nuclear power generation that the city relies on is a clean and cheap energy source. Although 20% of Texas' electricity is generated by wind power, according to 2019 data, natural gas is still the main way to generate electricity in the state.

Manning believes that the miners' huge demand for electricity will pose challenges to the local power supply system and the environment.

He said: "If you look at the numbers in the United States, about 20% of electricity comes from nuclear power, and about 50% to 60% comes from coal, natural gas and oil. So this will not change because of Bitcoin. You may be a city that is mainly nuclear power, and maybe this will not be a problem. But it does suck away a lot of, very large amounts of electricity. I think the question is whether you have a complex enough grid that you can rest assured." (China Xiaokang Network)