Illegal Crypto Mining Facilities Busted in Kazakhstan Amid Prevailing Power Crisis

Bitcoin miners in the Karaganda region were using the most amount of power in Kazakhstan.

By Radhika Parashar | Updated: 24 February 2022 15:45 IST

Illegal Crypto Mining Facilities Busted in Kazakhstan Amid Prevailing Power Crisis

Photo Credit: Bloomberg

Kazakhstan’s crypto mining farms need to disclose themselves by March 19

Highlights

Illegal crypto mining was identified in Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan
Grey crypto miners also found in Turkestan, Pavlodar, and Akmola
BTC miners in the Karaganda region were using most power

Crypto mining, the process of generating assets such as Bitcoin, is legally permitted in Kazakhstan, but only via authorised mining facilities. A total of 13 crypto mining facilities have been busted in Kazakhstan that were consuming huge chunks of electricity to generate Bitcoin, illegally. The Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan conducted raids after having identified illegal crypto mining farms in cities and regions like Karaganda, Turkistan, Pavlodar, Akmola, and Kostanay. Illegal crypto miners are also called grey miners.

The development comes under the backdrop of Kazakhstan trying to manage its power supply. Since crypto mining is legal in the country, its grids have been bearing the loads the mining machines require.

“As a result of inspections conducted over the past five days, mobile groups identified and stopped 13 mining farms with a total power consumption of 202 Megawatt,” an official statement (translated) from the government of Kazakhstan read.

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Bitcoin miners in the Karagandy region were using the most amount of power, over 31MW, compared to other regions where grey mining operations were cracked.

Other regions of Pavlodar, Shymkent, Turkistan, Akmola, Kostanay, Nur-Sultan, and Almaty ranked behind Karaganda.

“The work of the mobile group to identify and disconnect mining farms from the electrical networks will continue, and the authorised bodies are also conducting operational and investigative measures for the identified mining farms,” the government's official statement added.

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Earlier this month, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had instructed authorities to increase the tax on electricity for crypto-mining outfits.

Crypto mining, as a process, picked up pace in Kazakhstan after China imposed a blanket ban on all crypto activities last September.

Since the process of crypto mining is power intensive, it has been known to disrupt electricity distribution in other parts of the region. Miners have to solve complex algorithms on advanced computers to be able to mine cryptocurrencies.

Kazakhstan, with its awaited laws on crypto mining, also intends to curb grey mining activities where people set up power-consuming machines in their houses, garages, and balconies to generate crypto assets.

All crypto mining farms have been asked to disclose themselves along with their records and other paperwork in Kazakhstan by March 19.

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Further reading: Cryptocurrency, Cryptocurrency Mining, Crypto Mining, Kazakhstan, Electricity, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Mining, BTC, BTC Mining

Radhika Parashar

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Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More