U.S. edges China in terms of global share of bitcoin mining hashrate

New data coming from Cambridge University confirmed that the United States has now surpassed China in taking the leading position in bitcoin mining, ending the consecutive years of reign at the top spot by the Asian giant.

According to the findings of the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI), the leading share of the world’s Bitcoin network hashrate now emanates from the US. The superpower is followed by Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation.

This development now confirms the impact of the intensified bitcoin mining crackdown implemented by the Chinese government in aid of its mission to be carbon neutral in the near future.

It only took just more than a year

As it turns out, just more than a year was what it took for the U.S. to knock China down in top position as far as bitcoin mining hash rate is concerned.

It can be recalled that researchers from CBECI project published data gathered from the “Bitcoin Mining Map” back in mid-July.

The findings, however, were not updated since April 2020 but nonetheless showed that China’s hash rate dominance stood much lower than what was expected.

On Tuesday, researchers from the CBECI released updated data pertaining to all countries taking part in the bitcoin mining industry – China was no longer number one and is no longer included in the world’s top three rankings.

Immediate impact

The government-mandated ban on cryptocurrency mining in China had an immediate effect, pushing down the global network hash rate by 38% in June this year.

The percentage in dip roughly corresponds to the country’s share in a global hash rate before the onset of the clampdown.

According to Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance Digital Assets lead Michael Rauchs, this implied that Chinese miners simultaneously stopped all their operations.

This led to the wider geographical distribution of mining power, explaining the rise in the ranking of Kazakhstan, Russia as well as Canada, Ireland, Malaysia Germany, Iran and Norway.

Image courtesy of Cointelegraph News/YouTube

Source: https://bitcoinerx.com/blockchain/u-s-edges-china-in-terms-of-global-share-of-bitcoin-mining-hashrate/