China crackdown knocks 5.6% off Bitcoin hashrate

Traders Union
All News
Crypto News
China crackdown knocks

All news

Editors' Picks

Crypto News

Financial News

Market Voices

Billionaires

Companies

Broker News

Regulators News

Yaroslav Dmytrenko

16.12.2025

China crackdown knocks 5.6% off Bitcoin hashrate — Bitcoin hashrate falls after mass shutdown of Chinese miners

Bitcoin’s hashrate has dropped sharply since December 13, reflecting the shutdown of mining operations in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, according to multiple sources.

Chinese authorities have intensified oversight of Bitcoin mining and launched a series of investigations into participants, prompting a significant reduction in activity by local operators. Estimates suggest that between 400,000 and 500,000 mining rigs have been taken offline across several regions, marking the steepest decline in Bitcoin mining since the 2024 halving.

Up to 100 EH/s of computing power was disconnected, resulting in a 5.6% drop in Bitcoin’s total hashrate. Jack Kong, former chairman of Canaan Mining, confirmed these figures, estimating losses of around 250 TH/s at affected facilities.

BTC mean hashrate, 30-D moving average. Source: Glassnode, CoinDesk

According to Kevin Zhang of Nakamoto Holdings and former vice president of the Foundry mining pool, the impact may be even greater. Based on data from Antminer S19 units, Zhang estimates that roughly 500,000 Bitcoin mining rigs were shut down at facilities with a combined capacity of 2 GW.

China officially banned Bitcoin mining in 2021, though some regions continued limited operations. By late November 2025, China was the third-largest source of Bitcoin hashrate, at one point contributing more than 14% of the network’s total computing power.

As reported by Cryptopolitan, China currently hosts 1,362 Bitcoin nodes, accounting for approximately 2.5% of the global network. Over the past 24 hours, Bitcoin’s hashrate continued to decline alongside reports of additional mining farm shutdowns.

Indirect impact of mining shutdowns on Bitcoin’s price

The mining disruptions coincided with another drop in Bitcoin’s price, with BTC falling below $86,000 amid broader market panic. However, in this context, mining activity appears to have limited influence on Bitcoin’s price, which remains driven primarily by derivatives speculation and spot trading flows.

At the same time, the shutdown of Chinese miners—reportedly including highly efficient S19 XP mining farms—could benefit other mining pools by reducing competition.

Nevertheless, the loss of confidence in mining operations may damage the reputation of the crypto sector. Over the years, the Chinese government has periodically expressed support for mining, making the sudden scale of the shutdowns particularly unexpected.

As we wrote, Bitcoin hashrate hits record 1,000 EH/s

This material may contain third-party opinions, none of the data and information on this webpage constitutes investment advice according to our Disclaimer. While we adhere to strict Editorial Integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners.