How crazy can it be?
In order to mine, Xiao Yi, the former secretary of Fuzhou, Jiangxi Province, runs about 160,000 mining machines every day, builds buildings and provides financing for mining companies, and provides all-round assistance.
These 160,000 mining machines consumed 10% of the city’s electricity!
"I am a sinner of the people of Fuzhou," he confessed in the documentary "Forever Charge." However, netizens did not buy his words, saying that "those caught pretend to be pitiful, while those who were not caught are crazy."
He is also a ruthless person. This is the first time that improper "mining" behavior has appeared in the public notice of the officials under investigation.
160,000 mining machines are running every day
During his tenure, Xiao Yi vigorously developed Fuzhou's digital economy and colluded with Lin Qingxing, the actual controller of Fuzhou Jiumu Group's Genesis Company.
Genesis claims to be engaged in "big data" and "cloud computing", but is secretly engaged in "mining" day and night. In front of Lin Qingxing's company, there are dozens of luxury cars parked all year round, and the shabbiest ones are Ferraris. Locals say that the traffic police dare not intervene when they see it.
Xiao Yi also took advantage of his position and instructed Lin Qingxing's company to "perform" some other business when people came to visit and inspect.
In the documentary, Lin Qingxing said: "He (Xiao Yi) would say, don't talk about "mining" when the leaders come over, and would tell me that the "mining machine" can run artificial intelligence by changing the operating system. Isn't it enough to switch the program, just like you shut down QQ and run WeChat instead?"
It is reported that this Genesis company has about 160,000 "mining machines" running every day. At its peak, there were more than 100,000 Bitcoin mining machines and more than 300,000 Ethereum mining machines.
From 2017 to 2020, the electricity consumption of Genesis Company's mining accounted for 10% of the total electricity consumption in Fuzhou City.
It is understood that the total electricity consumption of Fuzhou in 2020 was 10.33 billion kWh. According to a rough calculation by the editor of Science, from 2017 to 2020, the power consumption of Genesis Company for mining was as high as 3.1 billion kilowatts, consuming 1.03 billion kilowatts per year. According to the industrial electricity consumption standards of Jiangxi Province, the company's annual electricity bill is as high as 1 billion yuan. On average, the annual electricity bill for each mining machine is 6,250 yuan.
My annual electricity bill is only about 1,500 yuan. This mining machine has been running for one year and it has covered my electricity bill for four years. This is really outrageous.
In order to cover up such a large amount of electricity consumption, Xiao Yi also instructed relevant departments to fabricate statistical reports and adjust electricity consumption classification.
This wave of operations is too blatant!
China was once the largest Bitcoin computing center
Why did corrupt leaders also engage in cryptocurrency mining? This has a lot to do with the overall atmosphere of cryptocurrency mining in China at the time.
As early as 2013, Bitmain, the world's leading digital currency mining machine manufacturer, was established in China and started its mining career.
At its peak in 2018, China’s Bitcoin mining farms accounted for 70% of the world’s computing power.
At that time, Bitmain’s BTC.com (24.04%) and AntPool (15.11%) mining pools ranked first and second in terms of the percentage of total network computing power, and the total reached 39.15%.
ViaBTC (13.14%), BTC.top (9.58%), F2Pool (5.53%) and others are also mining pool operators from China.
It can be seen that there are so many mines in China. No wonder even city leaders are corrupt and want to mine.
These "Bitcoin mines" are generally located in the west and northeast of my country, such as Inner Mongolia, Sichuan, Xinjiang and other provinces. This is mainly because there is very cheap electricity here, and the low population density and cold climate have inherent advantages in solving the noise and heat dissipation problems of mining machines.
A few years ago, some foreign capital had set its sights on Sichuan, a place with good feng shui. The local Australian media reported that three Chinese-Australian guys came to Kangding, Sichuan, and settled down deep in the mountains to "mine".
The local water resources are abundant, and there is more than enough electricity during the flood season. Some small hydropower stations and even power companies provide electricity, and the miners provide equipment and technology, forming a win-win cooperation.
When Sichuan enters the dry season, electricity prices will be twice as expensive as during the flood season. At this time, the mines will "migrate" to Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and other places.
For example, a Bitcoin mine in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, is known as one of the largest Bitcoin mines in the world, and its annual electricity bills reach 100 million yuan.
The electricity consumption of this mine is astonishing. Just look at what the cables used to run the entire mine look like. The interviewing reporter was shocked. The mine operator told the reporter that they used at least 15 such cables.
Final words
In May 2021, the country launched a severe crackdown on Bitcoin mining, and several provinces including Inner Mongolia, Sichuan, and Xinjiang issued documents requiring the immediate cessation of virtual currency mining.
The power supply to mining machines for Bitcoin and other virtual currencies across the country was collectively cut off, and the era of mining officially came to an end.
But unexpectedly, in Fuzhou City, Jiangxi Province, under layers of protection, there is such a huge virtual currency mine hidden.
In December 2021, Xiao Yi was expelled from the Party and removed from public office for serious violations of discipline and law. In January 2022, he was prosecuted for suspected bribery and abuse of power and has been sentenced to life imprisonment.
