Bitcoin miners have returned to China in recent months, tempted by cheap electricity and data center boom, according to a Reuters report citing data from Hashrate Index that found China made up 14% of the global bitcoin mining market at the end of October.

“The resurgence of mining activity in China is one of the most important signals the market has seen in years,” Patrick Gruhn, chief executive of crypto market infrastructure company Perpetuals.com, told the newswire, adding “even hints of China’s policy easing could act as a tailwind for bitcoin’s narrative as a global, state-resilient asset.”

Bitcoin and crypto trading, as well as the mining of cryptocurrency using high-powered computers to secure crypto networks in exchange for newly minted coins, remains illegal in mainland China following a 2021 ban.

“Despite Beijing’s 2021 ban, bitcoin mining in China is quietly reviving, fueled by cheap electricity, surplus power, and new data centres in regions like Xinjiang,” analysts with Tagus Capital wrote in an emailed note.

“Small and large miners are resuming operations as bitcoin prices ‘broadly’ rise, boosting profitability, while mining rig sales and network metrics confirm growing activity. Subtle local policy shifts, economic incentives, and overbuilt infrastructure support the rebound, with China now controlling 21% of global mining capacity. This resurgence demonstrates how financial incentives can override regulatory barriers, influencing global bitcoin supply and stabilising network activity.”

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Earlier this month, U.S. president Donald Trump warned China is trying to take on the U.S. as the world’s “capital of crypto.”

“I don’t want to have somebody else have crypto and have China be number one in the world in crypto,” Trump told CBS’s 60 Minutes.

“Because in crypto it’s a kind of an industry where basically you’re going to have number one and you’re not gonna have a number two. And right now we’re number one by a long shot. I want to keep it that way. The same way we’re number one with AI, we’re number one with crypto.”