(Yicai Global) June 25 -- Bitmain Technology Holding, one of the world’s largest Bitcoin mining machine makers, has suspended global mining rig sales after second-hand hardware flooded the market due to the Chinese government's ban on cryptocurrency mining.

Bitmain has halted Antminer sales in the spot market as some Chinese customers are reselling their mining machines to cover their losses, putting pressure on the second-hand market, the Beijing-based company said in a statement on WeChat yesterday.

China banned Bitcoin mining last month. The extensive crackdown was targeting the electricity-rich areas of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Sichuan province. Digital currency exchanges were already ordered shut in 2017.

Miners may be looking to relocate. Along with its clients, Bitmain is looking for power supplies abroad in places including the US, Kazakhstan, and Russia, it added. The company held a customer meeting on June 19, inviting experts from the US and Kazakhstan to provide its customers with legal and tax advice.

The Chinese government's move seems to have global ramifications. Bitcoin network’s average computing power was 126.8 exahashes per second on June 20, 36 percent lower than a historic high, according to BTC.Com. Based on market rumors, a power company in southwestern China's Sichuan province cut off local cryptocurrency mining firms on June 20.

Chinese miners' hashing power accounted for 65 percent of the world’s total two years ago, according to several sources. 

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi