Some 80 percent of bitcoin’s computing power is in China. The shutdown of bitcoin exchanges platforms in China has to some extent affected the upper end of the bitcoin mining industry, as many bitcoin miners are considering whether to move their machines out of the country, according to a report on thepaper.cn.

In September, China’s central bank ordered the country’s cryptocurrency exchanges to shut down and banned the trading of digital cryptocurrency to rein in financial risks.

Fearing supervisory departments might take stricter measures, bitcoin miners are considering moving their machines abroad in order to cut losses, though a financial regulator insider said in September that the country has yet to roll out a restrictive bitcoin mining policy.

Wu Xiang (not his real name), one of many Chinese investors seeking to profit from the popularity of the digital currency, said the value of his bitcoins would be worth more than 400 million yuan ($60 million) if he hadn’t sold them during a period of price fluctuations.

Wu, who owns more than 10,000 mining machines in southwest China’s Sichuan, said the computing power of his machines accounts for 0.5 percent of the country’s total.

“I’ll take my machines to other countries with rich energy resources, such as Russia, Ukraine, and the U.S., if they have to be moved elsewhere,” Wu said.

Unlike Wu, other owners said they will wait and see.

Liu Sang (not his real name), said miners don’t want to move their businesses out of the country. Electricity, the main cost for bitcoin miners, costs less in China, Liu said, adding that in foreign countries they would also encounter uncontrollable political risks.

“Moving so many machines abroad takes a lot of time and effort,” Liu said, pointing out that at least 600,000 mining machines are located in China.

Another bitcoin miner worries about the time spent on the road. It would take months to ship everything to another country, and considering the fast upgrade of mining machines, they would likely become outdated when they arrived in another country, he said.