Qihoo 360, a Chinese internet company best known for its antivirus software programs, has built a system that could help the Chinese government track cryptocurrency mining activities, as the country continues to crack down on the sector.
Fast facts
- Qihoo 360 said in a Tuesday statement that it detected 109,000 active mining IP addresses on a daily average in November, mainly in the Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shandong provinces.
- The company said its system can provide government and corporate supervisors with information including the miners’ IP addresses, geographical locations, network type, connection frequency, and recommendations for disposing of the miners.
- The system can also track the results and effects of the crackdown, the company said.
- However, Qihoo 360 was put on the U.S. Bureau of Security and Industry’s Entity List last year, as it was identified as representing risks of becoming involved in the procurement of commodities and technologies for military end-use in China.
- China has been actively clamping down on crypto mining since earlier this year. On Sept. 24, the NDRC jointly issued a notice with 10 other authorities to wipe out crypto mining. The NDRC has also proposed to label the crypto mining industry as “outdated,” which could prohibit investments in the sector.
- Wei Meng, a spokesperson of the National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top economic planner, said in November at a press briefing that authorities will focus on raiding industrial clustered mining activities and those carried out by state-owned entities. If an entity is found to have participated in mining crypto, it could be subject to punitive electricity charges for future operations, according to Meng.