In the wake of China’s crackdowns on crypto mining, investment firm IBC Group has announced plans to shut all of its Bitcoin and Ethereum mining operations on the mainland and relocate elsewhere.
Fast facts
- IBC — a United Arab Emirates-based investment group that recently moved its headquarters to Toronto — intends to move its Bitcoin and Ethereum mining operations to the U.S., Canada, the UAE, Kazakhstan, Iceland and various countries in South America.
- With over 1,500 employees in 40 cities around the world, IBC was a significant investor in over 4,000 blockchain projects — including the launch of Ethereum 2.0, with around 10,000 Ether staked.
- “We believe that while the Chinese crackdown is a temporary inconvenience, the diversified location of mining facilities is great news for the rest of the world,” said Khurram Shroff, chairman of the IBC Group, in a statement. For example, Shroff added: “A shift of crypto mining operations out of China will be a huge opportunity for Canada.” He called Canada “ahead of the curve” by recently becoming the first nation in the world to list a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund.
- China began putting a squeeze on crypto mining earlier this year as former crypto mining hubs in Inner Mongolia, Xinjian, Qinghai and others got shut down by authorities or were subject to government restrictions that made mining more difficult as a business. As a result, there has been an exodus of crypto miner from China, with many choosing to resettle in neighboring Kazakhstan on account of if its cheap supply of electricity.