Bitmain, a specialized chip and mining equipment manufacturer, has decided to separate from its Antpool brand, dedicated to the field of collective mining . The pool currently owns 18% of the total hash rate of the Bitcoin network.
The decision was made on May 1, although it was made public on July 26, after the semi-annual meeting of the firm ends. The sale is motivated by “changes in the external environment” as published in the statement itself.
It should be noted that the announcement of separation does not mean the cessation of operations at all. While the sale is awaited, Antpool will continue to operate independently with the different mining groups that comprise it.
According to the information , Bitmain will continue its operations focused on the research and development of servers, and computing power chips (mining).
Regarding the Bitmain subsidiary dedicated to the sale of mining equipment Antminer does not no mention is made within the ad.
Antpool and the consequences of China’s attack on mining farms
In the statement announcing the sale of Antpool, the company clarifies that it has undergone “external changes” that have led the Chinese manufacturer of specialized chips to take measures that allow it to continue afloat.
Although it is not explicit in the text, I enter these «external changes» There is the fact that last May China announced the ban on cryptocurrency mining, started in the province of Inner Mongolia, and extending, from now to the present, to a total of 8 provinces throughout the Asian country.
Antpool was one of the most affected mining pools, this taking into account that China was one of the countries with the highest hash rate in the world, accumulating close to 70% for the year 2019 according to data from the University of Cambridge. It currently has 18 EH / s in its mining power, whose figure reached 30 EH / s at the beginning of January 2021 , meaning a reduction of almost 40%.
