Crypto Mining Contract Marketplace Shutdown By ViaBTC
Smart Planet
Chinese bitcoin mining pool ViaBTC has announced that it will officially close its cloud mining marketplace on Wednesday. The move comes amid reports that China will limit electricity supply to bitcoin miners.
“In order to control speculation and protect the interests of our investors, ViaBTC will officially close cloud mining Market at UTC time 12:00 Jan 10th, 2018,” the company said. “Please finish all your cloud mining contract trading ASAP. Thank you all for your support.”
ViaBTC’s cloud mining marketplace was launched in November of last year. Cloud mining enables users to buy the output of crypto mining power from mining hardware placed in remote data centers. It allows users to mine cryptocurrency without crypto mining hardware, mining software, electricity, bandwidth or other offline issues.
The closure of ViaBTC’s cloud mining marketplace comes months after the company shutdown its cryptocurrency exchange in response to a crackdown by the Chinese government on the cryptocurrency exchange sector. In September 2016, the government also banned individuals and organizations from raising funds through initial coin offerings (ICO).
Last week, the Leading Group of Internet Financial Risks Remediation, China’s internet-finance regulator, issued a notice asking local governments to guide bitcoin mining operations to make an “orderly exit” from the business. According to the notice dated January 2, the bitcoin mining companies in the country have consumed huge amounts of resources and stoked speculation of cryptocurrencies.
The notice asks local officials to use measures linked to electricity price, land use, tax, and environmental protection, among other things, to guide bitcoin mining companies to quit the business. It also asks the local officials to report information about mining facilities in their regions, as well as the progress of the exits from mining by January 10, and then on the tenth day of every month.
As a result, some of the country’s biggest mining companies are shifting operations overseas.