Chinese customs authorities have confiscated 49 used Bitman ASIC Antminers. The seizure was made from unknown persons attempting to smuggle it into the country.
The seizure was possible as the Chinese government continued to roll out stricter regulations on cryptocurrency activities and investments in the country. Incidence of fraud has reduced, and internet fraudsters heavily cracked down on it.
Huangpu Customs of China’s Guangdong Province reported confiscating 49 second-hand Bitcoin miners. The BTC miners were supposed to be smuggled into the city by unidentified individuals but were unfortunately unlucky. The miners will be accordingly disposed of as stipulated by the rules and regulations.
Fake Identification
The customs authorities explained that the used Antminers arrived in a consignment labeled “shoe materials”. Upon inspection, the customs authorities discovered that the information provided in the export document regarding the content of the shipment was fake. Instead, the content of the consignment was the 49 old ASIC Antminers.
This seizure is per China’s commitment to crackdown against bitcoin miners. This hunt against bitcoin miners in China has encouraged and bolstered crypto mining participation in China’s neighboring states such as Thailand, Russia, and Kazakhstan.
Commenting on the surge in crypto mining activities and why his fellow citizens are buying and investing in the mining rig, Tongtaveenan, a Thai businessman, stated that Bitcoin represents the gold of the digital world. The mining rig is the gold stock. Miners receive dividends depending on the price of the gold. Currently, there are over 100,000 Thai miners.
CBECI Reports China’s Position in the Bitcoin Mining Map
China has consistently been the world’s leading bitcoin mining until its recent crackdown adventure, which led to them relinquishing that position to the US. A report themed “Bitcoin Mining Map,” published by the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI), confirms that China is down the ladder as the US, Russian Federation, and Kazakhstan take the lead in bitcoin mining.
The report above associated the reasons for China’s poor performance in bitcoin mining with the country’s recent crackdown on mining activities within its territories. Displaying the change statistically, the US increased from its global hash rate share of 16.8% to 35.4%; Kazakhstan’s hash rate share increased from 8.2% to 18.1%, while the Russian Federation’s hash rate share also increased from 6.8% to 11%.
The above statistics prove that these three countries were already upping their game in the crypto industry. At the same time, China continued its crackdown adventure as its global hash rate share drastically dropped by 38%.
Shortly before the seizure of the old bitcoin Antminers in China’s Guangdong Province, Chinese regulator Shandong Development and Reform Commission (SDRC) released a document themed ‘Report on Rectification of Virtual Currency Mining Activities. The Paper declared the dawn of telephone line supervision.
The proposed supervision will rectify cryptocurrency mining investments and participation at municipal and provincial levels. April 2021, In a similar scenario, Hong Kong’s Customs and Excise Department (CED) seized an Nvidia CMP HX mining graphics card in a fishing schooner.