China has maintained its global leadership in Bitcoin mining despite a total ban on cryptocurrency trading and mining activities by the Chinese government. However, China is facing strong competition from the United States for its dominance in Bitcoin mining as the United States is rapidly rising in the field. According to the latest market data and industry analysis, although China's hash rate has rebounded, its global market share is gradually tilting towards the United States.
China’s dominance in Bitcoin mining is no accident. As early as 2017, China became the world’s largest Bitcoin mining country, with a large number of mining machines and cheap electricity, and at one point contributed more than 75% of the world’s hash rate. Until the government imposed a strict ban on cryptocurrencies in 2021, many people believed that China’s Bitcoin mining industry would decline rapidly. However, it turns out that Chinese miners have not completely withdrawn from this market.
The latest data shows that China currently still controls 55% of the global Bitcoin network's hash rate, with U.S. mining pools following closely behind, accounting for about 40% of the market share. This is because many Chinese miners still manage to continue operating in the underground market, and they avoid being discovered by using smaller and more covert operations, thereby maintaining a considerable share of the global hash rate.
The emergence of this situation reflects the resilience and flexibility of Bitcoin as a decentralized asset. Despite unfavorable policies, many miners are still able to find viable ways to maintain mining activities. This phenomenon shows the decentralized nature of Bitcoin to a certain extent, allowing its network to remain relatively stable when facing external pressure.
However, although China's mining activities occupy an important position in the global market share, the mining industry in the United States has risen rapidly in recent years and has become a powerful force in the global Bitcoin mining market. American miners benefit from policy support and stable energy supply, especially some states such as Texas and Kentucky, which provide Bitcoin miners with a relatively relaxed policy environment and sufficient energy supply. In recent years, the United States' share in the hash rate market has steadily increased, gradually approaching and may even surpass China in the future.
According to market data, since China implemented the Bitcoin mining ban, a large number of Bitcoin miners have moved to the United States and other countries, which has accelerated the rise of the United States in the global Bitcoin mining field. American miners not only benefit from abundant energy resources, but also receive support from green energy such as wind power and solar energy, which increases their competitiveness.
At the same time, US Bitcoin mining companies have also received more capital support, and more and more listed companies have begun to participate in Bitcoin mining. Some large Bitcoin mining farms such as Core Scientific and Marathon Digital have become important players in the global Bitcoin mining industry. These companies have advanced equipment and more efficient operating models, which further promoted the increase in the US hash rate.
It is worth noting that with the increase in the US hash rate and the continued operation of Chinese miners in the underground market, the global competition landscape for Bitcoin mining is constantly changing. In the future, it is possible that the situation in which China absolutely dominated the market will gradually evolve into a bipolar market jointly dominated by China and the United States. In the process, other countries such as Russia, Kazakhstan and Canada have also occupied a place in the Bitcoin mining market.
Meanwhile, although China still accounts for half of the global Bitcoin mining market, its future direction is full of uncertainty. The Chinese government has always had strict regulatory policies on cryptocurrencies, aiming to reduce financial risks and environmental impacts. However, as the global Bitcoin market continues to change, some industry insiders, such as Tron founder Justin Sun, have called on China to rethink its digital asset policies, believing that competition can promote the progress of the industry.
In addition, there are growing signs that China may soften its regulatory policies on cryptocurrencies in the future. Especially in Hong Kong, the region is striving to become a new cryptocurrency hub and may receive support from Beijing. If this policy shift is realized, it will have a profound impact on the global Bitcoin mining landscape.
In summary, although China still maintains a strong market share in the field of Bitcoin mining, the rise of American miners is changing this pattern. In the future, the competition in the Bitcoin mining industry will be more intense. It remains to be seen whether Chinese miners can continue to remain competitive in a complex policy environment, or whether the United States will completely replace China's dominance. In any case, the competition between China and the United States will continue to affect the direction of the global Bitcoin mining market.
