China bitcoin mining hub to shut down cryptocurrency projects

China bitcoin mining hub to shut down cryptocurrency projects By A visual representation of the cryptocurrency bitcoin. S3studio | Getty Images GUANGZHOU, China — China's Inner Mongolia region plans to ban new cryptocurrency mining projects and shut down existing activity in a bid to cut down on energy-consumption. Bitcoin is based on a decentralized network, which means it's not issued by a single entity like a central bank. Transactions, recorded on a public ledger called the blockchain, need to be "verified" by miners. But because the computers are high-powered, they consume a lot of energy . Bitcoin mining consumes an…