Chinese Bitcoin miners can make so much money that even if that cryptocurrency\'s value fell by 50% they would still be in the black. A Bloomberg report on January 10th relates how China\'s cheaper energy costs make crypto mining more profitable than in many other areas globally. Even in regions with the highest tariffs for electricity (rates vary from $0.03-$0.13 per kilowatt hour), any value over $6,925 for Bitcoin (BTC) puts miners into profit. BTC is currently trading at nearly double that figure.

At any price over that $6,925 benchmark, Bitcoin is going to be worth it, but more crypto mining means a greater demand for energy, especially in China where about 75% of the activity is based. That makes China the heaviest consumer of electricity in the world in terms of powering those computers. Not surprisingly, perhaps, China is now looking to discourage the industry because of the excessive power used in some provinces, and some miners are looking to Europe for cheaper power.

Overall, China\'s crypto mining industry consumes about as much as 3,400,000 American households, or about 20.5 terawatt-hours of electricity per year. This amount is over 50% as much as the 38 terawatt-hours used annually by Australia\'s BHP Billiton Ltd (the world\'s biggest traditional miner), or 10% of the amount used to power South Africa.