China Expels Jiangxi Official for Violating Crypto Mining Rules

(Bloomberg) -- China expelled a former Jiangxi provincial official for violations including supporting virtual currency mining, the regulator said.

Xiao Yi, a former vice chairman of Jiangxi provincial committee of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, was accused of abusing his power to introduce and support enterprises conducting virtual currency mining activities against government policies, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said in a statement on its website on Saturday. Xiao is also alleged to have taken bribes, it said.

Chinese regulators have been clamping down on crypto markets because the cryptocurrency ethos runs counter to the country’s aggressive centralized control of finance. China is home to a large concentration of the world’s crypto miners, whose need for massive amounts of power complicates efforts to curb greenhouse-gas emissions. In September, the government declared that all crypto transactions and services were banned. 

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With assistance from Bloomberg