News spread earlier this week that China’s hashrate had slowed by about 8% and that an estimated 400,000 mining units had been shut down in China’s Xinjiang region.
The narrative gained traction after Jack Jianping Kong, former co-chair of Chinese maker Canaan and now head of chipmaker Nano Labs, posted on X on 13 Dec that mining activity in Xinjiang was facing renewed scrutiny.
“Xinjiang's Bitcoin mining farms are shutting down one after another, and the U.S. wins without lifting a finger!”
Two days later, Kong said the network hashrate had fallen by roughly 100 EH/s day over day and tied the decline to China.
Pools tell more
The story “appears to have been amplified by social media, with network data suggesting the impact may be far smaller than some early claims implied,” Miner Weekly said in a report on Thursday.
(Source: TheMinerMag)
Miner Weekly said pool-level data points to a more mixed picture rather than a Xinjiang-only shutdown. (Mining pools group many miners together to earn rewards, and their data offers a useful window into where computing power is dropping or returning).
It noted that some of the steepest declines were seen in North American-facing pools such as FoundryUSA and Luxor, suggesting factors outside China were also at play. At the same time, several large pools with Chinese origins – including Antpool, F2Pool, ViaBTC, SpiderPool, and Pool – also showed declines, though Miner Weekly stressed these pools operate globally. ViaBTC, for instance, is described as “Russia-heavy,” and China-origin pools can include hashrate connected from outside the country, including -linked operations in the US.
Recovery looks quick
Miner Weekly said that, by Wednesday, most major pools were reporting higher real-time hashrate levels, with the combined total only about 20 EH/s below where it sat before the Monday dip.
“Updated pool-level data through 18 Dec further weakens the case for a broad, lasting shutdown tied to Xinjiang,” the report noted. “Most major pools have now fully or nearly recovered to pre-dip hashrate levels.”
What still stands out
SpiderPool stood out as the main exception. As of 18 Dec, its reported hashrate remained roughly 20 EH/s below pre-dip levels, making it the only major pool showing a sustained decline.
Miner Weekly suggested that divergence may be a more realistic signal of Xinjiang-related disruption, pointing to tens of EH/s rather than the roughly 100 EH/s figure that circulated on social media.
The report also noted Litecoin’s hashrate fell sharply on Monday and has yet to meaningfully recover, hinting enforcement may be hitting non-Bitcoin mining harder.
Overall, the data suggests the disruption was brief and limited, rather than a broad or lasting shutdown in Xinjiang. While some enforcement activity still seems likely, the quick rebound across major pools indicates the network has so far taken the impact in stride, with only small effects remaining.
