[nmjohn]

> I wonder who supplied the chips that do the mining and how much energy that facility uses.

Probably part of the reason this is in china - close to the factories where the majority are produced. The owner could walk into a chip manufacturer and make a much better offer than the cost of exporting and packing them to ship internationally.

[burgers]

Especially if said miner could pay to the chip makers offshore bank account with his offshore bank account funded by bitcoin mining.