A report published on 4 January on finance.caixin said The People’s Bank of China is planning to shutdown Bitcoin mining activities. The rumor was leaked out to the web by Guo Hong, a celebrity in the cryptocurrency world, who stated with a Wechat screenshot that all mines will close by January 5th. Lately, Guo Hong replied that the screenshot was photo shopped and denied all those claims.

Afterwards, other media reported that The People’s Bank of China held a meeting to demand Bitcoin miners to close all their activities within a limited time period, however officials of the Bank denied the meeting, and told Caixin reporters they just want to phase out preferential policies.

Officials wanted to clarify their stance toward Bitcoin is neutral, and they don’t want to encourage nor hamper mining activities. Bitcoin mining is very prosperous in China and it accounts for nearly 70 percent of the global hash power in bitcoin. The power consumption of mining is very high and it equals on 1 year the power supply to 50 million households, consuming 1.8 tons of carbon dioxide. Pollution in China has become the leading cause of death, and the government is fighting against its environmental issues cementing the global dominance of renewable sector. China has no intention to prohibit mining of cryptocurrency, but in the future is high probable the government will regulate the electricity consumption behind this activity.