China's state-run CCTV aired an anti-corruption documentary program to celebrate the New Year.

This program, named 'Blow the trumpet forever,' was produced in four parts, and CCTV organizes a special program around this time of year by tying the results of anti-corruption investigations for a year.

It is to praise President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign.

Since taking office, President Xi has strongly followed the anti-corruption drive.

The anti-corruption movement is also used as a tool to eliminate President Xi's political rivals, but it also serves as the main foundation for President Xi's long-term power, gaining steady support from the people.

This is because punishment for corrupt high-ranking public officials and their dropping from horses in any country and in any era makes the public feel catharsis.

The Chinese like to use the expression 'tiger hunting'.

160,000 mining rigs in operation every day...

10% of city-wide power consumption


In the second episode of 'Blow the Forever Advance Trumpet', which aired on the 8th, the case of Xiao Yi, who served as vice-president of the People's Political Consultative Conference (CPC) in Jiangxi Province and secretary of the Fuzhou City Party in Jiangxi Province, was introduced.

During his tenure, Xiao Yi promoted a company in Fuzhou City's high-tech development zone as a representative of the digital economy industry.

He promoted it as a 'big data' and 'cloud computing' high-tech company externally.

But in reality, this company was a company that mines virtual currency, Bitcoin.


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China has been banning virtual currency mining since designating it as an “exit industry” in 2018.

The reason is that while it consumes a large amount of electricity and emits carbon dioxide and electronic waste, it does not help to solve the unemployment problem or develop science and technology.

Behind the scenes, there is a sense of crisis that Chinese wealthy people use virtual currency to siphon off their wealth abroad or disrupt China's domestic financial order.

In May 2021, the Chinese government declared a war on virtual currency, saying, "We will hit bitcoin mining and trading."


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There was no way that Xiaoyi was unaware of this government policy.

However, he secretly instructed the head of the company to mine Bitcoin.

The company operated 160,000 mining rigs every day.

There were about 10 workshop buildings with mining machines.

From 2017 to 2020, the company's electricity use accounted for 10% of Fuzhou's total electricity use.

For reference, the population of Fuzhou City is 3.57 million, and the area is 18,800 km2, which is 31 times the area of ​​Seoul (605 km2).

Xiaoyi was found to have unfairly provided a government subsidy of 2.4 billion yuan (444.3 billion won) to the bitcoin mining company.

In addition, it was investigated that he received hundreds of millions of yuan (tens of billions of won) in bribes, including mining profits.

Xiaoyi is facing trial on charges of bribery and abuse of power.

He bowed his head, saying, "I am a sinner to the people of Fuzhou," and "I feel sorry for the people of Fuzhou."


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Covert bitcoin mining in China continues despite Chinese crackdown


Despite strong crackdown threats from Chinese authorities, Bitcoin mining in China has not been eradicated.

According to an announcement in May last year by the Cambridge Alternative Finance Center, from September 2021 to January 2022, Bitcoin mining in China ranked second in the world after the United States.

The hash rate, which means the speed of virtual currency mining, was 37.84% in the United States and 21.11% in China.

It was followed by Kazakhstan at 13.22%, Canada at 6.48% and Russia at 4.66%.

"China's rise appears to be the result of clandestine mining operations," the center said.


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Virtual currency is obtained through long computer calculations, and at one time, 65% of global mining was done in China.

This is because electricity rates in China are relatively cheap.

However, it was estimated that 90% of mining farms in China were closed by May 2021 as the Chinese government embarked on a massive shutdown of mining sites.

However, even if you look at the data from the Cambridge Alternative Finance Center, China's virtual currency mining is quietly reviving.

Bitcoin prices, which plummeted 64% in the past year due to the US Federal Reserve's successive interest rate hikes, the collapse of Korean coins Terra and Luna, and the collapse of the virtual currency exchange FTX, etc., continue to rise in the new year.

On the 13th, on the US exchange, the price per bitcoin was traded at 24.62 million won in our money.

It has risen more than 20% this year alone.

It is an analysis that the expectation that slowing US inflation will lead to the Fed's adjustment of the pace of interest rate hikes is boosting investor sentiment for risky assets.

Rising prices of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies could encourage more clandestine mining in China.