Just-In: Bitmain Slashes Price of its Top Bitcoin Mining Rig Amid Chinese Crackdown

Bitmain, the Bitcoin mining rig manufacturer has announced a price cut on its top bitcoin mining machine Antminer S19 Pro by 20% amid an increased crackdown on crypto mining by Chinese authorities. The price cut is being attributed to declining demand in China and many miners in the country have also applied for a refund.

Antminer S19 Pro is the top-of-the-line ASIC bitcoin mining rig with an output of 110 terahashes per second. ASIC mining chips are the third generation of Bitcoin mining chips, the first being CPU-based mining followed by the era of GPU mining.

Bitcoin mining difficulty is a dynamic factor that increases or decreases depending on network input to mine the next block of BTC in 10 minutes. In the beginning, when the mining difficulty was low, people could mine bitcoin easily using their home-based computers. As more people joined the mining league, the difficulty kept increasing and miners had to shift to GPU-based mining and later to ASIC chip mining for best output.

China-Based Miners are Selling Their Machines and Relocating

The recent crackdown on crypto mining has led to many China-based miners selling their mining machines at dirt-cheap prices in second-hand markets and reports suggest many are looking to relocate. Inner Mongolia, one of the Bitcoin mining hubs in China brought in the strictest measures banning all forms of mining activity in the province including industrial as well as home-based.

Sichuan another hotspot for crypto mining decided to offer a breather for the monsoon season but informed miners they might have to relocate by next season. The ongoing crackdown on crypto mining is believed to be influenced by China’s carbon neutrality goals.

The current price discount offered by Bitmain might seem to be influenced by the recent crackdown, but a majority of their customer base comes from outside China, and their sale hasn’t taken any massive dent.