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$BTC's total network hash rate plummeted by 8% overnight and 17% over the week. 400,000 mining machines just stopped without warning.

What surprised me even more was that after China completely banned mining in 2021, China's hash rate quietly returned to third place globally, accounting for 14%.

It wasn't until I saw the F2pool data that I realized: this was not an unexpected power outage, but a clearing action that had long been anticipated.

| A 17% drop over the week, an 8% drop in a single day

On December 13, Kong Jianping posted on social media: Bitcoin mining farms in Xinjiang are shutting down one after another.

At that time, everyone was still uncertain about the scale. Until today, he spoke again: the hash rate dropped by 100E yesterday, an 8% decline, and based on an average of 250T, at least 400,000 machines were shut down.

Data does not lie.

F2pool data shows that as of December 15:

The total network hash rate is 988.49 EH/s, down from around 1200E a week ago, a decrease of 17.25%.

More exaggerated is that on December 14-15, the daily hash rate dropped by 100E, a decrease of 8%.

What does 100E mean? Calculating based on an average of 250T hash rate per miner, it is equivalent to 400,000 miners shutting down at the same time.

This is not a natural market fluctuation; this is organized collective power shutdown.

| Timeline: From ban to recovery, then to clearance

Looking back at the timeline, you'll find this event was not sudden.

May 2021: China completely banned Bitcoin mining, forcing many mining farms to shut down or relocate overseas. At that time, the total network hash rate plummeted by over 50%, with China's hash rate share dropping from 65% to nearly 0.

October 2025: Foreign media reports that China's share of global Bitcoin mining hash rate has rebounded to about 14%, ranking third in the world.

Underground mining farms, semi-official operations, and small mining farms in remote areas have quietly recovered.

On November 28, 2025: The People's Bank of China led 13 departments to deploy a special rectification action to crack down on virtual currency trading speculation.

December 14-15, 2025: Large-scale shutdowns at Xinjiang mining farms, 400,000 miners halted.

From the policy announcement on November 28 to large-scale shutdowns in mid-December, the timing is very precise; this is not a sudden policy but a planned clearance.

| Why Xinjiang?

Xinjiang has always been an important base for Bitcoin mining, for a simple reason: cheap electricity.

After the ban in 2021, there appeared to be shutdowns, but some local governments turned a blind eye, and mining farms quietly recovered. However, this time it is different as 13 departments are jointly rectifying, leading to a collective shutdown of the entire region.

| What impact does the hash rate drop have on BTC?

Many people may ask: With a 17% drop in hash rate, will BTC collapse?

The answer is: short-term impact is limited, and long-term may even be a good thing.

The Bitcoin network has an automatic adjustment mechanism; a decrease in hash rate will trigger a difficulty reduction, ensuring that the block generation speed remains stable at around 10 minutes. The shutdown of miners has a very small direct impact on BTC prices.

In the long run, the geographical decentralization of the hash rate is actually a good thing. After China's ban in 2021, hash rate moved to the US, Kazakhstan, and other places. This time, the shutdown in Xinjiang will further accelerate this process.

The risk of hash rate concentration is too great; a policy change can cause the entire network's hash rate to plummet. Decentralization means greater security and resistance to censorship.

| What should retail investors care about?

For ordinary investors, the lesson from this event is: do not blindly trust hash rate data; a drop in hash rate sounds alarming, but its impact on BTC prices is far less than that of market sentiment, liquidity, and macro policies.

Pay attention to policy trends; the rectification document from 13 departments on November 28 is the real signal, and miner shutdowns are just the result of execution.

China's hash rate is unlikely to return in the short term, with 13 departments jointly rectifying, and the efforts are greater than in 2021. However, in the long run, as long as there is profit to be made, there will always be someone looking for ways; policy is more important than hash rate, and liquidity is more important than anything.

With 400,000 miners shut down and a 17% drop in hash rate, it sounds grim, but the BTC network is still operating normally; prices will rise or fall as they should.

What truly influences BTC prices has never been whether miners are operating or not, but whether global capital is willing to enter the market.

Do you think China's hash rate will return?