A Chinese Official is Sentenced to Life for Crypto Mining

The former official of the Chinese province of Jiangxi, Yi Xiao, has been handed a life sentence by a court after being found guilty of corrupt activities and supporting cryptocurrency mining operations.

The case file has stated that Xiao had abused his position between 2008 and 2021, earning over 125 million yuan (~$17.1 million) in bribes.

As Fuzhou City Party Secretary from 2017-2021, he also assisted mining firms which led to severe losses for both state assets and public interests. Xiao was permanently stripped of his political rights and had his personal possessions confiscated in addition to the life sentence.

Following this, Vice Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China Liu He declared the intention of the central authorities to tackle cryptocurrency mining and bitcoin trading.

Subsequently, Xinjiang and Qinghai ordered the closure of local digital asset mining companies, and Yunnan began to impose restrictions.