Almost 100 Bitcoin nodes still running

Despite the widely publicized crackdown by the Chinese government on anything that has to do with cryptocurrency, including its mining, relevant data shows dozens of nodes still running in the country.

Indeed, one year after the country-wide ban on crypto mining, there are still 94 reachable nodes securing the Bitcoin (BTC) network on the territory of China, according to the latest data by the crypto analytics platform Bitrawr acquired by Finbold on June 7.

As a reminder, a Bitcoin node refers to a device or software running the Bitcoin mining protocol. Specifically, nodes hold the database of all Bitcoin transactions, fully or partially, and are connected to each other to verify transactions, maintain the consensus rules, and vote on proposals.

Notably, Bitrawr’s live map shows the concentration of public Bitcoin nodes found in countries around the world, while the platform also offers a breakdown of reachable nodes per country.

Interestingly, these nodes continue to operate in China despite a ban that the country’s authorities introduced in 2021. 

The ban was implemented in stages, starting with May 2021, when the government prohibited financial institutions from engaging in any crypto transactions. All domestic crypto mining was banned in June, and the country completely outlawed digital currencies in September.

China crypto comeback?

Interestingly, underground Bitcoin miners in China are still very much active, making the country one of the key mining players once again. In mid-May, Finbold reported on the traffic from China contributing to about 20% of Bitcoin’s overall hash rate from September 2021 to January 2022, after it previously dropped to zero in July in response to the ban.

At the same time, the Shanghai High People’s Court has ruled that Bitcoin has a ‘certain economic value’ and is a virtual asset protected by the country’s laws, including the law on property rights.