Authorities in Kazakhstan have continued illegal cryptocurrency mining operations amid ongoing electricity supply problems. Working with law enforcement, the country’s Department of Energy announced the closure of more than a dozen facilities producing digital currencies.
Government Halts Unauthorized Crypto Mining Operations in Kazakhstan
Local departments of the Atomic Energy and Energy Monitoring Committee of the Energy Ministry of Kazakhstan have carried out a number of inspections to identify illegal coin-mining operations in the country, a indicated the department. Members of the country’s law enforcement agencies and other government agencies also took part in the joint checks.
“Following inspections over the past 5 days, mobile groups have identified and shut down 13 mining farms with a total consumption of 202 MW,” the ministry said in a statement. The closed facilities are located in different regions of the Central Asian nation.
In the Karaganda region, the authorities found mining facilities with a total capacity of more than 31 MW, and in the Pavlodar region – another 22 MW of mining equipment. They also disconnected equipment in the Turkestan region – 3.28 MW, the Akmola region – 1.03 MW, the Kostanay region – 0.82 MW, in the capital Nur-Sultan – 1.8 MW, the largest city in Kazakhstan, Almaty – 3.5 MW and Shymkent – 4 MW.
The ministry also revealed that some miners have introduced “self-restrictions” for a total capacity of 91 MW in western Kazakhstan and an additional 44 MW in Karaganda. Inspectors will continue their efforts to detect and disconnect illegal crypto farms, but also to identify authorized mining facilities, the announcement stressed.
The news of government checks comes after President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev earlier in February asked authorities to report on all coin-minting companies in the country and check their tax, customs and technical documents. He has tasked the Financial Monitoring Agency with the task and the watchdog is expected to report to the executive branch by mid-March.
Offering capped electricity tariffs, Kazakhstan has become a magnet for crypto miners, following China’s crackdown on the industry. They were initially well received, but later the growing energy deficit was blamed on their energy-intensive production. The country has had to increase its electricity imports from Russia and recently shut down legal mining farms due to winter power outages.
Mass protests against rising energy costs, primarily fuel prices, erupted in the early days of the year, threatening Tokayev’s rule. To quell the unrest, his administration temporarily closed banks and restricted internet access, affecting mining and the global bitcoin hashrate. Political unrest and power outages have already forced some mining companies to look elsewhere for more stable conditions.
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