---
title: "Chinese Authorities Want to Ban Crypto Mining"
description: "## Mine No More"
date: "2019-04-09"
modified: "2019-04-09"
authors:
  - name: "Kristin Houser"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/kristin"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/chinese-authorities-ban-crypto-mining"
categories:
  - "Future Society"
tags:
  - "china"
  - "crypto mining"
  - "cryptocurrency"
  - "the digest"
---

# Chinese Authorities Want to Ban Crypto Mining

![The agency tasked with guiding China's economic development has suggested the nation ban crypto mining — and the move could have global implications.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/chinese-authorities-ban-crypto-mining.png>)
*\<em\>Image: Miloslav Hamřík via Pixabay/Tag Hartman-Simkins\</em\>*

## Mine No More

China's [crackdown on cryptocurrency](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/chinese-cryptocurrency-crackdown>) may soon extend to mining — and the impact could reach across the globe.

In China, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) is tasked with studying the nation's economy and guiding its future development — in part by listing industries it wants to encourage, restrict, or discontinue.

On Monday, the agency shared a [proposed revision](<http://gys.ndrc.gov.cn/cyjgtzzdml20190408.pdf>) of this list for public feedback, and it includes cryptocurrency mining as an activity the NDRC suggests eliminating from China's economy — a startling move that could cause a spike in global cryptocurrency value.

## Crypto's Cost

The Chinese public now has until May 7 to comment on the proposal, which doesn't include a deadline or plan for how to ban crypto mining, but does share some reasoning behind the proposed ban.

According to a [*TechCrunch* translation](<https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/09/china-considers-ban-crypto-mining/>), crypto mining was listed alongside other industries that the NDRC believed "lacked safe production conditions, seriously wasted resources, \[and\] polluted the environment."

## The Implications

If China did ban crypto mining, the move would likely raise the global average cost of mining bitcoin, the world's most popular cryptocurrency, since China is a key supplier of the cheap electricity ideal for the activity, Mati Greenspan, an analyst for investment firm eToro, [told *Reuters*](<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-cryptocurrency/china-wants-to-ban-bitcoin-mining-traders-say-move-not-a-surprise-idUSKCN1RL0C4>). This would most likely increase the price of bitcoin, he [noted in a tweet](<https://twitter.com/MatiGreenspan/status/1115534428921577474>).

Still, the NDRC's list doesn't carry any legal weight — it's only the agency's suggestions — so unless the government decides to heed the NDRC's advice and take legislative action, crypto mining will continue in China.

**READ MORE:** [China wants to ban bitcoin mining](<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-cryptocurrency/china-wants-to-ban-bitcoin-mining-traders-say-move-not-a-surprise-idUSKCN1RL0C4>) \[*Reuters*\]

**More on crypto:** *[China Is Serious About Cracking Down on Cryptocurrency](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/chinese-cryptocurrency-crackdown>)*

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinjhouser>)