China’s Communist Party Reportedly Expells Top Official for Supporting Crypto Mining Companies

The government of China removed Xiao Yi – an official representing the Jiangxi province – from his post after he violated the country’s digital asset policies. According to the prosecution, he illegally supported some cryptocurrency mining businesses.

China Sends a Strong Signal that Crypto Mining Is Forbidden

A recent report by the South China Morning Post informed that Xiao Yi – a former vice-chairman of the Jiangxi Provincial Committee – is no longer part of the Communist Party ruling body due to his connection with digital mining operations. 

The statement revealed that he is the eighth provincial-level official to be placed under investigation this year amid President Xi Jinping’s intensifying anti-corruption campaign. Among them all, Xiao Yi is the highest-ranked politician to be punished for supporting operations involving cryptocurrencies.

“[Xiao] violated the new development concept and abused his power to introduce and support enterprises to engage in virtual currency ‘mining’ activities that do not meet the requirements of national industrial policy,” the Chinese government stated.

In addition, the investigation found Xiao Yi guilty of other crimes such as accepting bribes and attending parties that may have compromised the fulfillment of his duties. The prosecution concluded that he traded power for money and sex and provided privileges to people close to him after they granted him a large amount of property.

Earlier this year, the Chinese government imposed a crackdown on all operations involving cryptocurrencies, with mining being one of them. Prior to that, the most-populated nation was the global mining leader, but the first position now belongs to the USA, while Kazakhstan is second. 

Bitmain Stopped Shipping Mining Rigs to China

The Chinese crackdown on everything crypto reached Bitmain as well. The Beijing-based company, known as one of the world’s largest manufacturers of bitcoin mining machines – revealed last month it would no longer deliver its Antminer crypto mining rigs to mainland China addresses.

Still, the new policy did not affect clients in overseas markets as the company stated it “is working hard to ensure the supply of customers around the world.” To comply with the demand for mining equipment from across the globe, Bitmain also increased its production capacity for modular mining containers – Antbox. 

The firm’s decision to withdraw from the Chinese market seems logical since the local authorities carried out a major operation in Inner Mongolia in September. After which, they seized 10,100 mining rigs. This was the 45th such confiscation in that province, while Sichuan, Yunnan, Xinjiang, and Qinghai have also been targeted before.