Crypto miners in China may be under siege and driven out of business or forced to flee to friendlier shores. But one corner of the country’s crypto mining industry — the mining machine manufacturers — does not seem to be affected much. Chinese mining rig maker Bitmain, for example, has recently secured a deal with Bit Digital, a New York-based crypto mining company, for 10,000 Antminer machines.
Fast facts
- Bit Digital announced on Tuesday that it has signed agreements with Bitmain to purchase 10,000 Bitcoin mining rigs, which are expected to increase Bit Digital’s miner fleet hashrate by over 1 exhash per second, according to a company statement.
- “Bit Digital’s purchase of our Antminer products will help solidify the company as one of the key mining businesses in North America,” Irene Gao, Antminer sales director of the NCSA region at Bitmain, said in the statement.
- As Bitmain continues to expand its overseas client base, it has had to take actions to distance itself from the reach of the Chinese regulators, following the Chinese authorities’ Sept. 24 joint notice to implement a stepped-up crackdown on crypto mining.
- Bitmain announced on Sunday that it has stopped delivering mining machines to clients on the mainland as of Monday, and will get in touch with those who signed up onto long-term purchasing plans for alternative plans. It added the latest adjustment of its delivery policy does not affect overseas clients.
- China has been cracking down on the crypto mining sector, with the most recent bans being imposed in Jiangsu, Hebei and Gansu provinces, followed by similar clampdowns in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Yunnan and Sichuan.
- China has repeatedly criticized the “speculative nature” of cryptocurrencies and blames crypto mining for its massive energy consumption that didn’t serve the country’s carbon neutrality goals.