The Chinese cryptocurrency sphere this past week after the bitcoin halving has seen some positive development: Sichuan, the bitcoin mining capital, is encouraging crypto mining operations; Chengdu, home to the world’s beloved panda, is set to establish a digital asset trading center; a mysterious bitcoin mining pool in China rises to top 10 seemingly overnight; blockchain jobs as recognized as new occupations in China…

China speeds up “legalizing” bitcoin mining

Garze of China’s Sichuan province known as the world bitcoin mining capital has recently convened a seminar in a bid to encourage cryptocurrency mining operations to help consume excessive hydroelectricity and make up for the economic losses caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

Following the practice of Ya’an, its neighboring city Garze is publicly showing support for the bitcoin mining industry. These regions, with relatively low GDPs, are rich in hydropower electricity which could fuel bitcoin mining operations and the latter could, in turn, create jobs and economic benefits for locals.

The support of local governments will be an attraction for bitcoin miners. It also has positive significance for the legalization of bitcoin mining in the country where crypto mining operations were previously disfavored by Chinese authorities.

Following the public guidance supporting crypto mining, Sichuan released a list of companies that make good use of excessive hydroelectricity in the region, with several crypto mining farms included.

Chengdu to establish a digital asset trading center

The Chinese city Chengdu is said to speed up the construction of a financing service platform for blockchain intellectual property rights and establish a digital asset trading center to steadily advance the country’s DC/EP pilot.

As one of the listed outlets for Agricultural Bank of China’s internal testing of China’s digital yuan DCEP wallet, Chengdu has been described as one of the hot new startup hubs to emerge since 2017, thanks to rapid economic development which also happens to skew towards tech.

Mining pool shift following the halving

Following the third bitcoin halving on May 11, 2020, there’s been a big shift in bitcoin mining pool distribution as an unknown mining pool secretly join the top mining pool contenders.

The mysterious China-based bitcoin mining pool named Lubian, currently the 8^th largest seemingly popping up overnight, has earned a lot of attention in the mining sector, but no one seems to known who’s behind it. Industry insiders told 8btc that the pool is highly likely started by several large mining farms in China.

Another noticeable sight is the rise of exchange mining pools, with all three major exchange pools (Huobi.pool, OKExPool and Binance Pool) having entered the top 10 by hashrate. Since Binance Pool was introduced less than a month ago in late April, the fast rise of exchange pools seemingly makes hashrate more decentralized by grabbing miners from bitcoin mining hardware-dominated pools, but now may make it more concentrated which could threaten the security of the bitcoin network.

Blockchain officially recognized as new occupation

The country is taking another step toward blockchain adoption by adding blockchain-related jobs to a list of legitimate career options.

According to a May 11 statement by China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, blockchain-focused professions, like tech developers, engineers, and analysts, are among 10 newly recognized jobs. These come alongside 3D printing operators and nucleic acid examiners.

The scope of a blockchain-related job includes a number of activities, including blockchain architecture design, protocol technology, system operation and testing, as well as operation and maintenance.

China has suffered from a shortage of blockchain talent. With the setup of blockchain major and the recent recognition of blockchain-related jobs after the country’s president blockchain endorsement, it is believed that more young talents will be enticed into the space to pursue a promising blockchain career.