Statewide prohibition on cryptocurrencies, Chinese Communist Party official Xiao Yi admitted guilt for providing financial assistance and power guarantees to Bitcoin miners.
Yi allegedly collected 125 million yuan in bribes in exchange for projects and job listings and caused significant damage to public property by entering into illicit contracts with Bitcoin miners, according to the state-owned Chinese news agency Xinwen Lianbo.
Chinese government Restrictions Hardly Deter Miners
As secretary of the Jiangxi Fuzhou Municipal Committee, the report claims that Xi abused his position unethically. Yi’s sentencing will take place at a later date after the court reconvenes.
In an ongoing effort to become carbon neutral by 2060, the Chinese government outlawed cryptocurrency mining in September 2021. The prohibition also impacted the coal mining and disposable plastic cutlery businesses.
The restriction reduced the Chinese hashrate overnight since miners could not lawfully access finance markets or electricity. In Texas and European nations like Abkhazia, miners frequently relocated westward to use affordable or adaptable power sources.
But according to information from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, mining activity has been steadily increasing. By January 2022, China will account for more than one-fifth of the global hashrate.
Yi’s case illustrates cracks in China’s policing that could have let miners go undetected, even if it is unclear how they gained access to buildings and electricity.
After the prohibition, one miner said he altered his mining locations to hide the significant electricity usage that mining entails.
China Keeps Building Crypto-Defeating Infrastructure
Despite opposing private cryptocurrencies, the Chinese government has invested significant resources in testing the e-Yuan CBDC. On August 31, 2022, there were over 100 billion yuan ($13.9 billion) in transactions worth.
Crypto enthusiasts have long condemned CBDCs for being spying apparatuses for totalitarian regimes like Turkey and China. The Turkish Central Bank just announced the first exchange using the digital lira. Additionally, it will incorporate digital identities into its CBDC, which some see as a move in the direction of a one-world government.
A state-backed, non-crypto digital collectibles market dubbed China Digital Asset Trading Platform was said to have launched on December 27, 2022, according to China Daily. The marketplace was established in collaboration with the Huaban Digital Copyright Service Department Co., Ltd., China Technology Exchange, and China Cultural Relics Exchange Center.
The marketplace will encourage the dissemination of Chinese cultural digitization accomplishments.
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The China Cultural Protection Chain blockchain will power the new platform, which the government authorizes. According to reports, the only reliable depository protection platform for exchangeable digital assets is this network.
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