Inner Mongolia Establishes Hotline To Report Illegal Bitcoin Mining Operations

Inner Mongolia, which recently banned bitcoin mining, has established a hotline for reporting illegal operations.

In an announcement published yesterday, the The Inner Mongolia Development and Reform Commission (DRC) revealed that it has set up a hotline for reporting illegal Bitcoin mining operations taking place in the region.

The announcement listed an in-person address, telephone number and email that people can use to report the operations.

“The autonomous region’s energy consumption … emergency headquarters office has specially set up a virtual currency ‘mining’ enterprise reporting platform,” per a translation of the announcement.

According to this announcement, the complete shutdown and criminalization of unauthorized Bitcoin mining is part of a five-year energy consumption plan. It is seeking reports on mining companies, mining companies posing as data centers, mining companies providing “site leasing” and companies that obtain power through “illegal means” and “engage in virtual currency ‘mining’ business.”

Inner Mongolia is one of China’s biggest regions, with a land mass of over 1 million square kilometers. The region imposed a ban on bitcoin mining in March over purported concerns about pollution, giving miners until this month to cease operations. Up to that point, it had contributed an estimated 8% of total global hash rate.