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Cryptocurrency Crackdown in China Triggers Thai Crypto Mining Boom
Aggregated Source: ChinaTechNews.com

The moment the axe fell on China’s monstrous cryptocurrency mines, Thai entrepreneur Pongsakorn Tongtaveenan was prepared to swoop – rapidly purchasing up excess PC processors expected to recover Bitcoin from the organization and delivery them to Southeast Asia. Costs are currently once again at more than $13,000 for new “miners” – PCs that solve complex math puzzles that open Bitcoin awards from the organization. In any case, Pongsakorn, 30, has figured out how to sell hundreds of units across Thailand as youthful players hop into cryptocurrency as China takes action against the lucrative market.
In September, Beijing banned all cryptocurrency trading and mining amid concerns that virtual currencies “generate illegal and criminal activities” and pose a risk to the “economic and financial system.”
“Chinese miners got rid of their machines and the price collapsed by 30 percent,” Pongsakorn told Al Jazeera.
The campaign has forced some of the world’s largest bitcoin miners to seek new rules with friendly regulations and the essential component of cheap electricity to power thousands of computers around the clock.
But for many small miners eager for a quick break and escape for fear of angering China’s authoritarian government, the priority was to get some cash back from their now useless computers.
The largest operations are packed and transferred to the United States – particularly Texas – and Malaysia, Russia and Kazakhstan among other countries.
This created an opportunity for entrepreneurs like Pongsakorn, who came in handy to move unwanted equipment — primarily the Bitmain Antminer SJ19 Pro — from Shenzhen to Thailand.
“Bitcoin is the gold of the digital world. But a miner is like a gold mining stock: profits are paid according to the price of gold.
Pongsakorn rigs fueled the home industry of miners across Thailand, and they could each earn $30-40 per day from each machine running. “There are now about 100,000 Thai miners,” he said.
Their ranks include people seeking a stable income during the pandemic, but also investors who believe in the future of digital assets. “The moment China banned cryptocurrencies, we were thrilled,” a bitcoin enthusiast turned miner running a solar-powered microprocessor out of his garage in eastern Thailand told Al Jazeera.
For an initial outlay of about 1 million baht ($30 thousand), he acquired a platform and up and running. “I made it all in three months,” said the miner, who asked not to be identified.
Many large Thai investors are closely watching neighboring Laos, which is tacitly embracing the rise of cryptocurrencies. Internet penetration in the impoverished and communist nation of 7.2 million people is just 43 percent, according to a 2020 study by internet and social media analysts We Are Social and Hootsuite.
But its advantage lies in the abundance of cheap electricity generated by dozens of huge dams. “More than 95 percent of the electricity produced is produced for export, so the surplus must be used or else it will be a huge waste for the government,” an expert on coding regulations in Laos told Al Jazeera, asking not to be identified.
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