比特币大迁移：中国如何踢出该行业，美国如何成为新的加密之都

雷尔

China banned crypto mining and transactions in May 2021 due to concerns about cryptocurrency use in illegal activities, such as money laundering, according to Zongyuan Zoe Liu, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. This ban had a significant impact on the cryptocurrency industry.

美国外交关系委员会高级研究员 Zongyuan Zoe Liu 表示，由于担心加密货币用于洗钱等非法活动，中国于 2021 年 5 月禁止了加密货币挖矿和交易。该禁令对加密货币行业产生了重大影响。

Following the ban, mining companies quickly left China, with many relocating to Kazakhstan, which had an abundance of coal power. Minting bitcoins requires solving increasingly complex math problems, and the hundreds of specialized machines used in the process, along with the equipment to cool them, consume a vast amount of electricity. According to the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index, Kazakhstan's contribution to the global "hashrate" — the computational power required to make new bitcoins — increased from 7% in May 2021 to almost 20% three months later.

禁令实施后，矿业公司迅速撤离中国，其中许多搬迁到拥有丰富煤电的哈萨克斯坦。铸造比特币需要解决日益复杂的数学问题，而在此过程中使用的数百台专用机器以及冷却它们的设备消耗了大量的电力。根据剑桥比特币电力消耗指数，哈萨克斯坦对全球“算力”（制造新比特币所需的计算能力）的贡献从 2021 年 5 月的 7% 增加到三个月后的近 20%。

This influx of crypto miners resulted in them using up 7% of the country's generated energy, leading to a surge in fuel prices and widespread power outages. Following a massive public outcry at the end of 2021, mining companies in Kazakhstan were essentially cut off from the grid.

加密货币矿工的涌入导致他们消耗了该国 7% 的发电量，导致燃料价格飙升和大面积停电。 2021 年底，公众强烈抗议后，哈萨克斯坦的矿业公司基本上被断电。

After being pushed out of Kazakhstan, these companies arrived in the United States. Currently, America accounts for about 40% of the global hashrate — up from 17% during China's 2021 peak — making it the largest hub for bitcoin mining. The country's 52 cryptocurrency-mining operations use about 2% of America's energy — enough to power the entire state of Utah or West Virginia. While it hasn't caused the same level of crisis as in Kazakhstan, the massive energy consumption has still prompted pushback from locals and raised concerns about Chinese-owned operations moving in. This is just the latest example of China pushing out burdensome industries, which then end up on America's doorstep.

这些公司被赶出哈萨克斯坦后，又来到了美国。目前，美国约占全球算力的 40%（高于中国 2021 年峰值时的 17%），使其成为最大的比特币挖矿中心。该国 52 个加密货币挖矿业务消耗了美国约 2% 的能源——足以为整个犹他州或西弗吉尼亚州供电。虽然它没有造成像哈萨克斯坦那样程度的危机，但大量的能源消耗仍然引起了当地人的抵制，并引发了人们对中资企业进入的担忧。这只是中国淘汰负担重产业的最新例子。然后最终到达美国家门口。

Bit Mining, one of the major Chinese-owned crypto-mining companies, relocated to the United States. In May 2021, the company had the largest data center and crypto-mining facility in the world, located in China. By September, following a brief stint in Kazakhstan, it was setting up shop in Akron, Ohio, in a building once owned by the tire giant Goodyear.

Bit Mining 是中国主要的加密货币挖矿公司之一，迁往美国。 2021 年 5 月，该公司在中国拥有世界上最大的数据中心和加密货币挖矿设施。到了九月，在哈萨克斯坦短暂停留后，该公司在俄亥俄州阿克伦市的一栋曾经属于轮胎巨头固特异的建筑内开设了商店。

Other bitcoin-mining companies settled in rural regions in the US with affordable electricity, favorable regulations, and ample warehouse space. However, these noisy facilities, which typically employ only a few dozen people, haven't formed the rosiest relations with neighbors.

其他比特币挖矿公司落户美国农村地区，那里有负担得起的电力、有利的法规和充足的仓库空间。然而，这些嘈杂的设施通常只雇用几十名员工，并没有与邻居建立最良好的关系。

"The amount of energy these companies use is staggering," said Jeremy Fisher, a senior strategy advisor with the Sierra Club's Environmental Law Program. For instance, a Riot Platforms mining facility in Rockdale, Texas, uses 450 megawatts of energy — the equivalent of what's needed to power roughly 300,000 homes.

“这些公司使用的能源量是惊人的，”塞拉俱乐部环境法项目的高级战略顾问杰里米·费舍尔说。例如，位于德克萨斯州罗克代尔的 Riot Platforms 采矿设施使用 450 兆瓦的能源，相当于为大约 300,000 户家庭供电所需的能源。

Electricity is also becoming an increasingly pressing issue in the climate crisis. Power outages nationwide have increased 64% since the early 2000s, and weather-related outages have increased 78%.

电力也成为气候危机中日益紧迫的问题。自 2000 年代初以来，全国停电次数增加了 64%，其中与天气相关的停电次数增加了 78%。

"At a moment when we need to be rapidly increasing the amount of renewable generation and shutting down fossil-fuel plants, proof-of-work cryptocurrency is pushing the wrong direction," said Fisher.

费舍尔说：“当我们需要迅速增加可再生能源发电量并关闭化石燃料工厂时，工作量证明加密货币正在推动错误的方向。”

Resistance to bitcoin mining has manifested largely at the local level. Frustrated locals in Murphy, North Carolina, Massillon, Ohio, and other places are signing petitions, forming coalitions, and creating YouTube channels to fight back against the mines in their towns.

对比特币开采的抵制主要体现在地方层面。北卡罗来纳州墨菲、俄亥俄州马西隆和其他地方的沮丧当地人正在签署请愿书、组建联盟并创建 YouTube 频道，以反击城镇中的地雷。

Gladys Anderson, who lives next to a mining facility in Bono, Arkansas, spoke about her experience at a town-council meeting for a proposed facility in Vilonia, Arkansas, last summer. "It's caused a lot of headaches," she said. Her son, who has autism, struggles to deal with the loud noise. "My son is currently in the backyard having a meltdown," she said.

格拉迪斯·安德森 (Gladys Anderson) 住在阿肯色州波诺市的一家采矿设施旁边，去年夏天，她在阿肯色州维洛尼亚市举行的关于拟建设施的镇议会会议上谈到了她的经历。 “这引起了很多头痛，”她说。她患有自闭症的儿子很难应对噪音。 “我儿子现在在后院，精神崩溃了，”她说。

The Bit Mining facility in Akron has also faced pushback. "They're going to be using a lot of water, and electricity rates tend to go up for that sort of thing," said Kelley Sayre, a resident there. A New York Times analysis found that the energy used by the Akron facility translated to 705,000 tons of CO2 emissions a year (roughly equal to the annual amount of emissions from two gas-fired power plants). Bit Mining didn't respond to a request for comment.

阿克伦的比特采矿设施也面临阻力。 “他们将使用大量的水，而且电费往往会因此而上涨，”那里的居民凯利·塞尔说。 《纽约时报》分析发现，阿克伦工厂使用的能源每年会排放 705,000 吨二氧化碳（大致相当于两个燃气发电厂的年排放量）。 Bit Mining 没有回应置评请求。

The mayor's office of Akron isn't excited about the mine, either. "The bitcoin mining industry as a whole runs counter to this administration's values and policy goals," Stephanie Marsh, the director of communications for the city of Akron, said in a statement. "Digital mining operations consume an exorbitant amount of electricity, employ very few individuals, and take up a considerable amount of space." Marsh told me the city would prefer the space to be occupied by a company that could provide hundreds of jobs and contribute to the local

阿克伦市市长办公室对这个矿也不感兴趣。阿克伦市通讯总监斯蒂芬妮·马什（Stephanie Marsh）在一份声明中表示：“整个比特币挖矿行业与本届政府的价值观和政策目标背道而驰。” “数字采矿作业消耗大量电力，雇用很少的人员，并占用大量空间。”马什告诉我，该市更希望该空间被一家能够提供数百个就业机会并为当地做出贡献的公司占据。