Bitmain, currently the largest miner, held a semi-private event in Chengdu, one of southwest China’s provincial capital with almost 15 million inhabitants, where representatives from “Inner Mongolia, Yunnan, Sichuan and other government agencies” were invited to “share power grid and local power resources.”

Representatives from local governments were in attendance with speeches given on behalf of the government of Inner Mongolia and at least seven electricity companies from Sichuan and other Chinese regions.

They were invited to offer cheap electricity to attract investment from Bitcoin miners which are currently mostly in China with 82% of hashare now concentrated in the world’s second biggest economy.

Discussing topics included hydropower, wind energy, power tariff terms, specific mining co-operations, as well as the showcasing of Bitmain’s latest miner, S9, which is said to be the most advanced mining gear currently in operation.

The event was held on halving day which seems to have transformed the mining landscape, with Bitfury’s hash share halved while BW’s has almost doubled, continuing a mining shift to China which gained a geographical share of more than 50% only last year and now controls more than 80%.

Within China, Bitmain currently has the largest hash share with control of more than 22% of the network. They are one of the few mining companies which operates in the entire mining cycle, including chip design, manufacturing, selling mining gear, mining with their self-designed and manufactured gear, as well as running a pool, employing 100 individuals, from researchers to factory workers.

Their operation has been very successful so far, investing in a number of bitcoin related companies. Now, with cheaper electricity, they may become even more profitable even as bitcoin’s reward halves, but for how long this will continue is difficult to predict as mining is the only sector in bitcoin’s economy to not retain older brands, with most of the hash share now in control of companies and individuals that are relatively new to the scene in bitcoin historical terms.

Featured image from 8BTC.com. Chart from blockchain.info.