Bitcoin Myths · #5 of 20
The Myth
“Governments can ban Bitcoin.”
Reality check
The network has no off switch.
Governments can restrict exchanges and block fiat on-ramps. What they cannot do is shut down the Bitcoin protocol. China held an estimated 65% of global hash rate when it banned Bitcoin mining in 2021. The chain kept producing blocks without interruption.
0%
China’s share of global hash rate before the 2021 ban
China banned it. The network kept running.
Chinese authorities issued comprehensive prohibitions on Bitcoin mining and exchange activity in May and June 2021. Hash rate dropped as miners went offline or relocated. The Bitcoin chain continued without pause. Within six months, global hash rate reached new all-time highs as operations moved to the US, Kazakhstan, and elsewhere.0
Network interruptions during China’s 2021 mining ban
The chain produced blocks continuously throughout. The difficulty adjustment compensated automatically — no administrator required.
17
Countries with absolute Bitcoin bans as of 2024
Bitcoin operates in all 17. Banning the exchange is not the same as banning the protocol. Source: Atlantic Council.
15K+
Publicly reachable Bitcoin nodes worldwide
Many more run privately over Tor. No headquarters. No master server. Shutting down any node changes nothing for the rest. Source: Bitnodes.io.
Bitcoin hash rate: China ban and recovery (approximate EH/s)
Pre-ban · Apr 2021
Post-ban low · Jul 2021
Recovery · Oct 2021
New high · Jan 2022
Worth knowing
Bitcoin’s difficulty adjustment recalibrates automatically every two weeks. When hash rate dropped after China’s ban, the protocol made it easier to find the next block. No administrator required, no emergency patch. Block production continued on schedule with a fraction of the previous capacity. The code handled it.