Filecoin miner RRMine flees China for Singapore as cryptocurrency crackdown drives out Web3 start-ups
- RRMine Global, the subsidiary of a Hong Kong company, says it is relocating because of tightened cryptocurrency restrictions in China
- Last December, RRMine executives were taken away by police in the Chinese city of Chengdu for investigation, according to a Caijing report
The company, which provides Filecoin mining and storage services, said the decision stemmed from “tightened restrictions on cryptocurrency usage in the mainland”, as well as “the fact that China’s Web3 strategy is going in a different direction”.
The announcement on Tuesday by RRMine, a subsidiary of Hong Kong SuperB Grace Limited, marks the official end of its five-year odyssey in China, where it was one of the bigger Filecoin miners before winding down its mainland operations last September.
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At present, apps based on Web3, a loosely defined vision for the next iteration of the World Wide Web built around blockchain technology and other decentralised protocols, mostly involve cryptocurrencies.
In China, however, state-backed initiatives have focused on popularising blockchain usage without the involvement of cryptocurrencies, which are banned from being traded in the country. Authorities also pledged in May last year to clamp down on cryptocurrency mining operations.
In December, RRMine executives were taken away by police in the southwestern city of Chengdu for investigation, according to a report by local business news outlet Caijing. RRMine did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for comment on the incident.
“The decision [to move to Singapore] has been made after a profound examination and multiple discussions,” Steve Tsou, CEO of RRMine, said in the firm’s statement on Tuesday.
“And it has not been easy to come back from a downfall, especially when RRMine Global has continuously provided services to all its users globally without fail despite all the events that happened.”
Filecoin is a cryptocurrency running on a decentralised storage network that rewards storage providers with the token. It was launched by Protocol Labs, creator of the decentralised file sharing network Interplanetary File System (IPFS), a Web3 technology with an active following in China.
Before Beijing’s cryptocurrency crackdown last year, enthusiasm for Filecoin mining was so high in China that Protocol Labs issued an anti-fraud message in December 2018, warning users in mainland China and Hong Kong to beware of “unsanctioned individuals and organisations” claiming to be affiliated with the team.
