By As per a report from Reuters, the latest in China’s negative stance against cryptocurrencies has seen the nation’s state planner, stating that it wants to ban Bitcoin (BTC) mining according to a draft list of industrial activities that the agency is seeking to stop.
Currently, China is the world’s largest market for computer hardware which is designed specifically for mining Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. This is despite the fact that this industry previously fell under a regulatory grey area in the nation.
On Monday, The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) stated that it was to seek public opinion on an updated list of industries that it wants to restrict or completely abolish. The list was first published back in 2011 and has since gone through several revisions.
The draft of the latest revised list added crypto mining to over 450 activities that the NDRC has argued should be removed as they do not adhere to laws and regulations, are unsafe and because they contribute to the pollution of the environment.
The draft did not allude to a set date or plan on how it would eliminate Bitcoin mining which means that activities of this nature should be phased out immediately, the document stated, and the public only has until May 7th to comment on the points laid out in the paper.
The Security Times, which is a government-owned publication, stated on Tuesday that the draft list “distinctly reflects the attitude of the country’s industrial policy” towards to the crypto sector.
Just last week saw the price of Bitcoin rise by almost 20% which is the digital assets best since the crypto craze in 2017, breaking the $5,000 mark for the first time since mid-November.
As of Tuesday, Bitcoin was trading at $5,190 and climbing.
As many in the crypto community know, the cryptocurrency sector in China has been under heavy scrutiny since 2017, when regulatory bodies began banning initial coin offerings (ICOs) and started shutting down crypto exchanges.
Furthermore, China has also clamped down on crypto mining, pushing many firms to shut down, including some of the worlds largest who have subsequently had to relocate their bases of operations to crypto-friendly countries.
As mentioned above, Chinese companies are among some of the largest manufacturers of mining equipment and just last year three of the biggest players in the mining industry filed for initial public offerings on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in order to raise billions in funding.
However, two of the largest and most-renowned firms, Bitmain Technologies and Canaan Inc, have both seen their applications lapse.
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