Beijing (PingWest)- China's inner Mongolia autonomous region is considering shutting down all cryptocurrency mining facilities in the region before the end of April as it is striving for energy-saving targets.

Bitcoin mining consume large amounts of electricity due to requirement of high computing power.  

Bitcoin mining consumes an estimated 128.84 terrawatt-hour per year of energy — more than entire countries such as Ukraine and Argentina, according to the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index, a project issued by University of Cambridge.

Inner Mongolia is one of major area for bitcoin mining in China, along with Sichuan and Xinjiang due to low electricity prices.

China account for 65% of all bitcoin mining globally.

China’s central government is clamping down on energy consumption of cities as the country has pledged to control the rise in its carbon emissions before 2030

Inner Mongolia was the one of 30 areas that failed to meet the energy saving targets in 2019, which led to criticism from the central government in September.

In response, the Inner Mongolia Development and Reformation Commission proposed a plan to reduce energy consumption.

Part of plan including shutting down cryptocurrency mining projects by April 2021.

China has placed tight scrutiny on trading cryptocurrencies despite the central government supported the development of bitcoin’s underlying blockchain technology.

In 2017, China banned initial coin offerings, a measure to issue digital tokens and raise money, due to concerns it could lead to potential systematic financial risks.