这一无国界数字货币的市值如今已达700多亿美元，相比年初涨了超过四倍。伴随着这样的涨势，比特币引来了众多政府、银行、以及小企业家的注视——比特币将有望成为一种新型数字黄金。
The market value of this digital currency without borders is now more than $70 billion, more than four times higher than it was at the beginning of the year. With this increase, Bitcoin has attracted the attention of a large number of governments, banks, and small entrepreneurs – bitcoin is expected to become a new type of digital gold.
十年前，沙漠中的内蒙城市鄂尔多斯曾凭借煤炭经济繁荣一时。
Ten years ago, the city of Eldos in the desert boomed with coal.
但伴随煤炭热潮的消退，鄂尔多斯却仿佛成了一座鬼城，四处可见被闲置的、未完工的建筑。
However, with the retreat of the coal boom, Ordos became a ghost town, where idle, unfinished buildings were seen everywhere.
所幸，如今的鄂尔多斯仍然拥有着诸多优势：廉价劳动力、充足的土地资源，以及最最重要的一点——便宜的电力。这就使得鄂尔多斯能敞开怀抱接纳各类新产业，摇身一变成为新经济热土。
Fortunately, Ordos today still has many advantages: cheap labour, adequate land resources, and, most importantly, cheap electricity. This allows Ordos to open up to new industries and turn into a new economy.
这其中的一位新来客就是比特币。
One of the new guests is Bitcoin.
这一无国界数字货币的市值如今已达700多亿美元，相比年初涨了超过四倍。伴随着这样的涨势，比特币引来了众多政府、银行、以及小企业家的注视——比特币将有望成为一种新型数字黄金。
The market value of this digital currency without borders is now more than $70 billion, more than four times higher than it was at the beginning of the year. With this increase, Bitcoin has attracted the attention of a large number of governments, banks, and small entrepreneurs – bitcoin is expected to become a new type of digital gold.
如今，鄂尔多斯（人口200万）已然发展成了一大比特币矿业中心。 所谓比特币挖矿，就是指在数字货币系统中进行批准交易、生产新比特币的过程 。
Today, Ordos has developed into a big bitcoin mining centre. The process of mining bitcoin is the process of authorizing transactions in the digital monetary system and producing new bitcoin.
剑桥大学替代性金融中心发布的一篇研究报告显示，目前世界上超过一半的大型比特币矿池都在中国。于是，在比特币这个有望改变国际交易形式的新产业中，中国俨然成了一支主导性力量。
A study published by the Cambridge University Center for Alternative Finance shows that more than half of the world’s large bitcoin ponds are currently in China. So, in Bitcoin, a new industry that promises to change the form of international trade, China has become a dominant force.
（编译者注：矿池是指通过共享资源来提高比特币发现几率的成队矿工）
(editor's note: The pond is a group of miners who share resources to increase the probability of Bitcoin being discovered)
我们采访的这座矿池坐落于城市郊区一个老旧的工业园区中。矿池共有50名员工及八幢单层的、像仓库一般的建筑。这些“仓库”每间都有150米长，其中的七间“仓库”共装有21000台机器。而这些机器，就代表了全世界比特币网络中接近4%的处理能力。矿池中剩余的4000台机器则是用在莱特币上的。莱特币又是另一种替代性数字货币，过去几个月价格也在增长。“仓库”的旁边是一座三层楼的建筑，内有办公区、食堂及矿区工人们的宿舍。
The pond that we interviewed was located in an old industrial park on the outskirts of the city. There were 50 employees and eight single-storey buildings, like warehouses. Each of these warehouses was 150 metres long, and seven of them were equipped with 21,000 machines, representing nearly 4% of the processing capacity of the world’s Bitcoin network. The remaining 4,000 machines in the pond were used in Letco.
鄂尔多斯的一间“仓库”中，架子上放满了莱特币挖矿机器
In a warehouse in Ordos, the shelf was full of Letcoin mining machines.
这个月，记者前往拜访了鄂尔多斯的一座矿池，和矿池的员工们进行了交流。
This month, journalists visited a pond in Ordos and interacted with its staff.
在矿池工作可以说有种乏味和离奇交织的感觉，但不同的是，这儿的工作不会在体力上有太高要求；且工作环境整洁干净、温度恒定，不像煤矿开采、铝矿冶炼、化学工程等当地的传统行业工厂那样对员工身体健康有影响。
While working in a pond can be said to be tedious and strangely interwoven, the difference is that the work here is not too demanding in physical strength; and the working environment is clean and constant, and does not affect the health of employees as much as in traditional local industrial plants such as coal mining, aluminium smelting and chemical engineering.
尽管自2012年煤价跳水之后，当地大量煤矿基地关门，鄂尔多斯当地仍然拥有充足、廉价的煤动力能源。这也就解释了为何鄂尔多斯会雨后春笋般遍地冒出电力集中型的比特币公司了。
Despite the closure of a large number of local coal mining sites since the coal price jumped in 2012, Ordos still has sufficient and affordable coal-powered energy. This explains why Ordos has a booming power concentration of Bitcoin.
投资比特币：如同一场赌博
Investing in Bitcoin: Like a gamble.
我们拜访的矿池是由北京比特大陆科技有限公司的一家子公司运营的。从字面上就知道，这家母公司位于鄂尔多斯东边644公里左右的中国首都。矿池本身是从2014年就开始运营的，只是2015年，比特大陆公司才将其接手过来。
The pond that we visited was operated by a subsidiary of Beijing Continental Technology Ltd. Literally, this parent company is located in the capital of China, about 644 km east of Ordos. The pond itself started operating in 2014, and only in 2015 did Bitland take it over.
比特大陆还号称该矿池是世上最早成立的的大型比特币矿池 。除了运营矿池以外，比特大陆还制造用于比特币挖矿的机器——基本上都是生产单处理器，放在互相连接的小盒子里。此外，公司还经营着Antpool（蚂蚁矿池），即世界上最大的矿池。
Bitcontinent also calls it the world’s first large bitcoin pond. In addition to operating the pit, Bitcontinent manufactures machines for bitcoin mining – basically single processors – in small, interconnected boxes.
在矿池工作的是50名鄂尔多斯本地居民，他们基本都是二十来岁，工作内容主要是维护为客户生成加密货币的机器。员工们很少有人懂比特币相关的专业知识，但许多却有过投资加密货币的经历。
There are 50 local residents of Ordos, mostly in their twenties, who work mainly to maintain machines that generate encrypted money for their clients. Few employees know bitcoin-related expertise, but many have experience investing in encrypted money.
比特大陆公司的工人们正在把挖矿机器放到架子上
The workers of Bitcontinent are putting the mining machine on the shelf.
比特币“就像赌博一样”，28岁的Han Lei这样说道。
Bitcoin "like a gamble," said Han Lei, 28 years old.
Han自打矿池开业后就一直在做机器维护工作。他总共在莱特币和其他数字货币上投资过2万元（约2987美金），但唯独没投过比特币，原因是他觉得比特币的价格太高了（目前为4000美元一枚）。“毕竟我自己是不太懂（比特币）的，”他说道，况且也没时间时刻关注价格。
Han has been working on machine maintenance since he opened the pit. He has invested 20,000 dollars (about US$ 2987) in Lightcoin and other digital currencies, but he has not invested in bitcoin because he feels that bitcoin is too high (currently US$ 4,000). “I don't understand it myself,” he says, and there is no time to pay attention to prices.
我们的另一个采访对象叫Hou Jie。Hou是个内向的24岁青年，声音小，说话还总带点不确定的感觉。他是公司最近才招聘来的六个大学毕业生之一。Hou专业学的是机械设计和制造，他还是在比特大陆面试的时候才第一次听说比特币这种东西。 现在Hou已经在矿池工作了两周，他对比特币的解释是：“一种虚拟货币，跟股票差不多 。”
He's one of six university graduates recently recruited by the company. His specialty is mechanical design and manufacturing, and he only first heard of bitcoin at an interview in Bitcoin.
虽然Hou还没有多少积蓄，但却在紧密关注着比特币的价格，等着入手的时机。“要投资的话，只投小钱是没有意义的。”他说道，“况且现在价格已经达到高点了。现在买说不定马上就跌了。”
Although Hou has not had much savings, he is watching closely the price of bitcoin and is waiting for the moment to come. “In order to invest, there's no point in spending only small sums.” He said, “and now prices are high.
比特币挖矿：一年365天，每分每秒都在挖
Bitcoin digs: 365 days a year, every minute, every second.
在比特币的世界中，时间就是金钱。
In the world of Bitcoin, time is money.
每隔10分钟左右，挖矿机器就会通过解决数学问题决出一名胜者。根据比特币系统规定，胜者可以赢取12.5枚比特币。这个竞争过程类似于猜保险箱密码，其密码组合有数十亿种可能性。能最先猜对组合的矿工就能最先解锁保险箱。那么这种情况下，你拥有的机器越多，赢得比特币的可能性也就越大。
Every 10 minutes or so, the mining machine will find a winner by solving the math problem. Under the Bitcoin system, the winner can win 12.5 bitcoins. This competition is similar to guessing the code of the safe, which has a combination of billions of possibilities. The combination of miners can first unlock the safe.
比特币矿工们每天创造近七百万美元的价值
Bitcoin miners make nearly $7 million a day.
为了保证最高的运作效率，矿工们就要确保自己的每台机器都能正常运转。一年365天，每天都要连轴转。这样一来，最重要的任务就落到了“运作与维护”部门。前面采访的员工Han与Hou就是这个部门的成员。他们与其他20名同事一起，日夜通过笔记本监测机器的状况；他们还要“亲临战场”，去到装机器的八间“仓库”里，检修那些出故障的机器。
In order to be most efficient, miners have to make sure that each of their machines works properly. For 365 days of the year, every day, it turns around. In that way, the most important task falls to the “operational and maintenance” department. The employees interviewed earlier, Han and Hou, are members of this department. Together with 20 other colleagues, they monitor the machinery day and night through notebooks; they also “come to the battlefield” and go to the eight “warehouses” where the machines are installed and repair the machines that fail.
比特大陆公司的一位维护工人正在监测比特币挖矿机器
One of the maintenance workers at Bitcontinent is monitoring the Bitcoin mining machine.
矿池的每幢建筑四周都围着细金属丝做成的护栏网。这种护栏网是用来挡灰尘的，因为灰尘很容易渗入机器，如果堆积过多导致运作过热，机器就会出故障。本身机器就已经在以最大输出功率不间断地工作了，所以温度哪怕是有一点点的上升也会影响其表现。春天的时候，护栏网还能用来隔挡一阵阵飞来的柳絮（一种在中国各地常见的柔荑花序，约子弹大小，从柳树上掉落后四处飘飞）。
Every building in the pond is surrounded by a fence of fine metal wires. This fence is used to shield dust, because dust can easily penetrate machines, and if excessive accumulation causes overheating, the machine will fail. The machine itself is already working uninterruptedly with maximum output power, so even a slight increase in temperature will affect its performance. During spring, the fence can also be used to block a wave of flying willows (a soft flower sequence that is common in all parts of China, about the size of a bullet, falling from the willow tree).
“这些机器很容易损坏，所以我们要采取很多防范措施。”比特大陆公司挖矿工作的总监管Yu Linjia如是说道。
“These machines are easily damaged, so we have to take a lot of precautions.” Yu Linjia, the general supervisor of Bit Continental's mining work, says.
这些机器很容易损坏
These machines are easily damaged.
内蒙的夏天，气温一般能超过30度；而“仓库”内的温度一般保持在15到25度之间。这个时候从户外走进矿池，能让人身心为之一爽。
In the summer of the interior, temperatures generally exceed 30 degrees; in the “warehouse” the temperature is usually between 15 and 25 degrees. Entering the pond from the outside at this time makes it one of the best for people, both physically and mentally.
走进仓库，昏暗的光线与机器的绿色LED光交织，颇有些外星球的气氛；连在机器上的小风扇和嵌入墙体的大风扇一起，一个劲地发出吵闹的嗡嗡声。员工进入的时候，都要戴上耳罩才能工作。
Walking into the warehouse, dark lights were interwoven with the machine's green LED light, and there was some atmosphere on the outer planet; with little fans on the machine and big fans embedded in the walls, there was a loud buzz. When employees entered, they had to wear ear masks to work.
一般遇到故障，如果幸运的话，工人只要简单地重启或者重连电缆就能修好。不走运的话，他们就得把机器从架子上拿下来转交给办公楼维修部的六位同事处理。
If you are lucky, workers can fix it simply by restarting or rewiring the cable. If you are not lucky, they have to take the machine off the shelf and hand it over to six colleagues in the office building maintenance department.
鄂尔多斯比特大陆矿池的维修工人
A maintenance worker at the Ordosbyt continental pond.
矿池的机器太多了，总共有25000台，所以随时都会有机器出故障 。维修工人们每天都像在打地鼠一样：一个修好了，另一个故障机又会出现。“我只能尽我所能检查尽可能多的机器，”Hou说道。他每天早8:30到晚6:30都是在检修机器。
There's too many machines in the pond, 25,000 of them, so there's a machine malfunction at any given time. The mechanics are shooting at the ground mouse every day: one fixes it and the other fails. “I can only check as many machines as I can,” Hou said. He's checking the machine every morning from 8.30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Hou表示，有时候只是把七间仓库里的比特币挖矿机器过一遍就要花上他一整天。每间仓库有大约50排架子，每排有60台机器，基本上每隔10分钟就有一台要出故障。天很热的时候，尽管机器有内部温控装置，还是会像普通计算机一样过热，导致故障率翻番。今年七月中旬，鄂尔多斯的温度一度达到36度。Han表示，这种时候故障率太高，根本忙不过来。
Hou says that sometimes it takes him a whole day just to dig up a bitcoin machine in seven warehouses. There are about 50 rows of racks in each warehouse, 60 machines in each row, and there's basically one malfunction every 10 minutes. When it's hot, the machine gets overheated like a normal computer, causing the failure rate to double. In mid-July, the temperature in Eldos was once 36 degrees. Han says that the failure rate is too high to get around.
Hou Jie，24岁，是一名矿池的维护工人。他与其他七名同事一起住在矿池边的一间宿舍里。
Hou Jie, aged 24, is a maintenance worker at the pond. He lives in a dormitory by the pond with seven other colleagues.
矿池的工作虽然对体力要求不高，但仍然非常耗费精力。
The work of the ponds, although not demanding for physical strength, is still very energy-intensive.
Hou的家住在鄂尔多斯的市区东胜区，距离工作的工业园区仅70公里。但他自打七月末进入公司以来就没有回过家，一直和同事们住在办公楼的八人宿舍里。
Hou's home, located in the urban centre of Ordos, is only 70 kilometres from the industrial park where he works, but has not returned since he entered the company in late July and has been living with his colleagues in an eight-person dormitory in the office building.
每天工作结束，Hou都会和同事们约着打篮球，这基本就是他们唯一的娱乐活动了。而他们所谓的球场，就是两幢建筑间一块连边界线都没画的临时空地而已。空地上满是灰尘、散布着一块块没有凝结好的混凝土。仅有的一个篮架孤零零地杵在地上，背后是一座装着变压器的棚子。空地的两旁，低矮的工厂建筑鳞次栉比。
Every day, at the end of their work, Hou will meet his colleagues to play basketball, which is basically their only recreational activity. And what they call the field is a temporary empty space between the two buildings, where no boundary lines are drawn. The empty ground is full of dust, scattered by pieces of concrete that are not condensed. The only basket lies on the ground, with a shed with transformers on its back.
这些建筑中仅有一座装着莱特币挖矿机器，其余都暂时闲置着。我们前往采访的时候是下午五点，正好看到三四个工人在玩投篮。
There's only one of these buildings with a Leitco mine machine, and the rest are temporarily idle. We went to the interview at 5:00 p.m. and we saw three or four workers playing the basket.
孤零零的篮球架
It's a lonely basketball rack.
一旦结束了三个月的试用期，Hou就要像他的正式维护工人同事那样，每个月上四到五次的夜班。工人们没有固定的周末休假，而且如果要请假的话，都必须提前一周申请。Hou目前正在筹划着请一次“长假”——休息两天，回家看看父母，帮他们做做农活。
Once the three-month trial period has been completed, Hou will work four to five nights a month, like his official maintenance worker colleagues. Workers do not have a regular weekend leave and must apply one week in advance if they want to.
“每天都要修坏掉的东西，我觉得还蛮有成就感的。”Hou表示。但他也同时承认，尽管工作非常繁忙充实，仍然让他觉得“有些乏味”。
“I feel a sense of accomplishment in fixing things that have to be destroyed every day.” Hou said, but he also admitted that, despite his busy and full work, he still felt “a little tedious”.
废墟中重生的比特币矿池
A reborn bitcoin pond in the ruins.
受煤价下跌及当地房地产市场崩盘的影响，如今的工业园区遍布着未完工的、废弃的建筑。在这样的环境中，矿场的存在就显得非常突兀。
As a result of the fall in coal prices and the collapse of local real estate markets, industrial parks are now full of unfinished, abandoned buildings. In such an environment, the presence of mines is quite dramatic.
2012年，中国煤矿出口量达到顶峰，其中五分之一的煤矿供应都来自鄂尔多斯。但是到了2014年，煤价跌至六年新低，导致当地的私人煤矿场开始大量关门。伴随着经济衰退，中国的主要煤产品动力煤在2012年到2016年间价格跌了一半。
In 2012, China’s coal-mining exports peaked, with one-fifth of the coal supply coming from Ordos. By 2014, however, coal prices fell to a six-year low, causing local private coal mines to close heavily.
据比特大陆公司反映，当初想进入工业园区内的公司大都是开设化工厂的，都是些高污染、高排放的设施。在新闻报道的压力下，监管工业园区的政府组织最终出于舆论考虑拒绝了化工厂的建设请求。
According to Bitcontinent, most of the companies that wanted to enter industrial parks were chemical plants, high-pollution, high-emission facilities. Under pressure from the press, government organizations that regulated industrial parks eventually turned down their construction requests for public opinion.
比特大陆矿池的一位清洁员正在用拖把清洁放置机器的架子
One of the cleaners at the pits in Bitland is using a mop to clean up the shelf of the machine.
比特币矿池和之前的工业企业有一个共同点：都要耗费大量电力。
The Bitcoin ponds and former industrial enterprises have one thing in common: large amounts of electricity are consumed.
Su Jiahai是比特大陆公司与当地政府的对接人，他告诉我们：由于当地政府提供了7折的电力优惠，比特大陆和其他许多“云服务”公司都纷纷来到园区落地。矿池每小时会用掉兆瓦的电，基本等于一小时内12000个家庭的用电量。即便有折扣，每天公司在电费也要花掉39000美元。
Su Jiahai, who is the interface between Bit Continental and the local government, tells us that, as a result of the local government's offer of a 70% discount in electricity, Bitland and many other “cloud services” companies have come to the park. The pond uses megawatts every hour, which is roughly equivalent to 12,000 households in an hour. Even with the discount, the company spends $39,000 per day on electricity.
鄂尔多斯的电力大都是周边的燃煤厂提供。尽管燃煤发电对环境有一定影响，但却能提供稳定持续的电力。中国的一些欠发达地区，比如最西边的新疆自治区，还有云南省、四川省，近来都受到了比特币挖矿单位的青睐。新疆的电力也主要是靠煤矿发电而来，而云南、四川则主要依靠水电站。
Some of China’s underdeveloped regions, such as the Westernmost Xinjiang Autonomous Region, and Yunnan and Sichuan provinces, have recently been favoured by bitcoin mining units. Xinjiang’s electricity is also mainly generated by coal mines, while Yunnan and Sichuan rely mainly on hydroelectric power.
尽管比特币矿工们是在虚拟世界里赚钱，但是也一样逃不过现实生活中的障碍。
Although the Bitcoin miners make money in the virtual world, they can no longer escape the obstacles of real life.
比如冬天的时候，由于河流结冰、降水减少，靠水电站获取廉价电力的矿池就会遇到困难。这种时候他们就只能把所有的机器设备装进卡车、艰苦跋涉运到别的地方再组装。Liu Tao，比特大陆一位负责挖矿作业的总管告诉我们：这种时候他们往往会去的就是内蒙古，因为当地能通过燃煤提供稳定的电源。
In winter, for example, as rivers freeze and precipitation decreases, it will be difficult to obtain cheap electricity from hydroelectric plants. At this point, they can only load all their machinery into trucks and travel to other locations to assemble it. Liu Tao, a master of mining operations on the continent of Bits, tells us that they often go to Inner Mongolia, because the locals can provide a stable power source through coal combustion.
比特大陆在云南和四川也都有矿池，最近还在新疆北部建了新的基地。公司称，在新疆的这个新基地，规模将是鄂尔多斯矿池的三倍，建成后将成为中国各类数据中心中最大的一个。比特大陆的员工还告诉我们，今年冬天，公司会把云南、四川的机器都搬到新疆的基地。
The company claims that this new base in Xinjiang will be three times the size of the Ordos pond, and will be the largest of all China’s data centres when it is built. The company’s workers in Bitco also told us that this winter, the company will move Yunnan and Sichuan machines to Xinjiang’s base.
比特币挖矿行业：
Bitcoin mining industry:
将提供更干净清洁的工作机会
A cleaner and cleaner job offer will be made available.
自鄂尔多斯政府采取措施振兴当地经济以来，许多当地居民都获得了新的工作机会，27岁的Jia Kai就是其中一位。Jia在一年前来到矿池做维护工人，在这之前，他在附近的一家肥料厂工作，工作内容是添加剂精炼。Jia表示，之前的工作不仅累，还有害健康。相比之下，目前这个维护机器的工作既“简单”，“工资也高”。
Since the Ordos government took steps to revitalize the local economy, many local residents have gained new jobs, of which Jia Kai, age 27, was one. One year ago, Jia came to the pond to work as a maintenance worker in a nearby fertilizer factory, where he worked as an additive refiner.
工人们在矿池边的饭厅里吃晚饭
The workers have dinner in the dining room by the pond.
Jia没有向我们透露自己的收入情况，原因是他说比特大陆公司禁止外泄这种信息。但是另一位工人则告诉我们，每月的基础工资大约为4000元人民币，这个数字是内蒙古地区最低工资的两倍还多。
Jia did not disclose his income to us because he said that Bit mainland companies prohibited such information from leaking. But another worker told us that the basic monthly wage was about RMB 4,000, which was more than twice the minimum wage in the interior of Mongolia.
比特币矿场的总领导叫Wang Wei，今年36岁，他是去年才加入的比特大陆。在这之前，他是搞创业的。2011年，他开始向沿海城市销售煤矿；其后，为迎合鄂尔多斯当时蓬勃发展的房地产行业，他开了一家室内装修设计公司。再后来，由于设计公司的一位客户付不起账把自己的一整套旅馆赔给了他，他又转而投身酒店服务业。后来旅馆也开不下去了，Wang就到工业园的一家瓷砖厂当了三年的中层管理。
The head of the Bitcoin mine, Wang Wei, was 36 years old, and he joined the Bit continent last year. Before that, he was a business starter. In 2011, he started selling coal mines to coastal cities; then, in order to cater for the booming real estate industry of Ordos, he opened an interior decorating company. And then, because a client of the design company couldn't afford to pay him for his entire suite of hotels, he turned into a hotel service. Later on, when the hotel was closed, Wang became middle management at a tile factory in the industrial park for three years.
Wang对自己现在的职位颇为乐观。“我们国家已经越来越认可（比特币）这个行业了，这是件好事儿。”Wang说道，“政策支持是初创企业最需要的东西了。”
Wang is optimistic about his current position. “Our country is increasingly recognizing the industry, which is a good thing.” Wang says, “Policy support is what start-ups need most.”
至于之前采访的维护工人Jia，他似乎只有一件事不太满意——附近一家药厂排放的有害气体总是会飘到矿场来。“每到晚上我鼻子里都有被气体刺激的感觉。”他如是说道。
As for Jia, the maintenance worker interviewed earlier, he seemed to be less than satisfied with one thing: the harmful gas from a nearby pharmaceutical plant would always come to the mines. “There was a feeling of gas irritation in my nose every night.” He said.
本文原作者Zheping Huang&Joon Ian Wong ， 编译 Anna， 来源硅谷精英程序员，钛媒体已获作者授权，略经钛媒体编辑。
The original author, Zheping Huang&Joon Ian Wong, compiles Anna, an elite programmer from Silicon Valley, has been authorized by the author for titanium media, slightly edited by titanium media.
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