Devices that 'mine' for bitcoins get their start in Shenzhen

Deng Lipeng, a computer shop owner on Huaqiang North in Shenzhen, has been busy touting a new and more coveted product - cryptocurrency "miners".

"At peak hours, I need to deal with 10 groups of customers in one hour," he said.

His shop is located on the fifth floor of SEG Electronics Market, one of the biggest malls on Huaqiang North, dubbed the country's No 1 electronics street. The whole floor used to be for selling computers, but they are now pushed to the back of counters, collecting dust. In about one year, the market has emerged as one of the largest distribution centers of cryptocurrency mining machines in China.