China: Veteran Regulator Tells Sichuan to Tap Hydropower for Blockchain

A veteran Chinese regulator has told those tasked with steering the strategic development of Sichuan province to tap surplus hydropower for the blockchain industry.

"Sichuan should study further about how the province's cheap hydropower resources can attract digital currency-related businesses."

Yang's remarks were noted in an Oct. 30 report from South China Morning Post.Use cryptocurrency mining to absorb excess output.

Sichuan, located in south-western China, has a protracted rainy season and is thus the country's biggest producer of hydropower.

Most crucially, cryptocurrency mining is thought to have the potential to help absorb excess energy output, which reportedly remains a missed export opportunity for hydropower plants lacking in infrastructure.

Jiang told strategists that China continues to mine 70% of the world's Bitcoin, followed by India and the United States, citing cheap hydropower as a major driving factor.

Leon Liu - CEO of retail crypto trading platform Bitkan - told reporters that since President Xi's high-profile endorsement of blockchain development last week, the volume of Bitcoin traded on the platform has surged by four times.

Increased mining is also expected to trigger a major uptick in Bitcoin trading volumes, as miners cash out their rewards to pay for operating costs.

China has banned all domestic crypto exchanges since Sept. 2017, meaning that this trading is likely to occur on offshore platforms.

Yesterday, Cointelegraph reported that the People's Bank of China and the country's market regulator will jointly implement a new system to certify 11 types of fintech hardware and software products relating to digital payments.