The United States has overtaken China to account for the largest share of the world's bitcoin mining, data published on Wednesday by the UK's Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance showed.

Chinese authorities banned the activity earlier this year causing miners to shut up shop or move overseas.

China's share of the power of computers connected to the global bitcoin network, known as the "hash rate", fell to zero by July from 44% in May, the data showed.

The United States now accounts for the largest share of mining, some 35.4% of the global hash rate as of end-August, followed by Kazakhstan and Russia, the data showed.