Artyom Geodakyan/Getty Images

A measure of how hard it is to mine bitcoin is plunging after China's crackdown took out a chunk of the computing power underpinning the network.

Bitcoin's "network difficulty," which measures how much computing power is needed to mint a new bitcoin, has fallen 45% from its May highs, according to public blockchain data. The drop is smaller but still pronounced, about 26%, when using 30-day moving averages.

Blockchain.com

Bitcoin's underlying algorithm regularly adjusts difficulty based on how many miners are on the network. Falling difficulty indicates mining power has come offline.

The clear culprit is China, where the government's anti-crypto tack has forced mining operations to shutter from Sichuan to Xinjiang. 

The country, which once accounted for 65% of the world's mining power, has forced a "seismic shift" in bitcoin mining patterns. In the wake of China's restrictions, nearly a quarter of active bitcoin addresses went offline, according to analytics firm Glassnode. In the end, 90% of China's bitcoin mining capacity is set to be shut down, according to the Global Times, a newspaper run by China's Communist Party.

Network difficulty, which automatically updates about every two weeks, could bounce back as Chinese miners migrate elsewhere, possibly to Central Asia or North America.

"It's happening! Texas will be the crypto leader," tweeted Gov. Greg Abbott after a local grocery chain said it would start accepting crypto at kiosks. The tweet came just days before China tightened the screws on crypto mining.

NOW WATCH: The shortest route for a road trip across the US to see 50 national landmarks

See Also:

• The founder of crypto trading platform Apifiny breaks down why ether is currently the best opportunity in digital currencies and will 'easily' rise back to $4,000 — and shares why DeFi will take off quickly in the years ahead
• Dan Morehead's 2 crypto token funds have each returned more than 1,000% since last January. The founder of the $3.5 billion crypto hedge fund shares 16 tokens from its early-stage funds — and explains why now is actually the best time to buy.
• JOIN US JULY 15: Crypto experts from Ark Invest and more share their industry outlooks and the biggest opportunities they're pursuing