Mubasher: The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) can now tell local governments to regulate the energy used by bitcoin miners to gradually reduce the scale of their production, Reuters reported, citing an informed source.

Although the PBOC cannot directly regulate power usage by bitcoin miners, it can, however, ask local authorities to do so, the PBOC told members of the Leading Group of Beijing Internet Financial Risks Remediation during a meeting held in late 2017, the source told the news agency.

The development of bitcoin mining will be limited, the unnamed source added.

China is one of the largest sources of bitcoin mining in the world, experts have said. Using computers, miners solve complex mathematical puzzles in order be awarded virtual coins, which means that their excessive computer use had increased demand for electricity significantly.

“In September, China ordered all initial coin offerings to cease and all cryptocurrency trading exchanges to be shuttered with the aim of containing financial risks. Bitcoin miners have feared that they could be the next target,” Reuters said.

Despite the September cracked down, entrepreneur Bobby Lee, CEO and co-founder of Shanghai-based bitcoin exchange BTCC, which had closed down its “China-facing trading operations” that same month, said that it was only a matter of time before China lifted its cryptocurrency exchange ban.

"One day I think it's possible they'll lift the ban, so called, and they might reinstitute it and license it," Lee told CNBC on Thursday.

Speaking of when this could be possible, Lee could not pinpoint an exact time frame. "Frankly speaking, I don't know what kind of time frame that is, whether it's a few months, a few years or even a few decades, so it's hard to tell," Lee added.