Kazakhstan Cracks Down on Illegal Mining, Busts 13 Crypto Farms – Mining Bitcoin News

Kazakhstan authorities have taken action against illegal crypto mining operations, despite ongoing problems with electricity supply. Working together with law enforcement, the country’s energy ministry announced the closure of over a dozen facilities minting digital currencies.

Kazakhstan’s government shuts down unauthorized crypto mining operations

Local departments of the Committee for Atomic and Energy Supervision of Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Energy have carried out a number of inspections to identify illegal coin mining operations in the country, the department said. Members of the country’s law enforcement and other government agencies also took part in the joint checks.

“As a result of the inspections over the past 5 days, mobile groups have identified and stopped 13 mining farms with a total consumption of 202 MW,” the ministry stated in a press release. They are all located in Central Asian countries.

In the Karaganda region, authorities found mining facilities with a total capacity of over 31 MW and in the Pavlodar region – another 22 MW of mining equipment. They also unplugged hardware in the Turkistan region – 3.28 MW, Akmola region – 1.03 MW, Kostanay region – 0.82 MW, in the capital Nur-Sultan – 1.8 MW, Kazakhstan’s largest city, 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 West Kazakhstan and another 44 MW in Karaganda. The announcement stated that inspectors would continue to work with them in detecting and disabling illegal crypto farms, as well as identifying authorized mining facilities.

After President Kassym Jomart Tokayev had ordered authorities in February to make an inventory of all coins minting companies in the country, as well as verify tax and customs documents. This task was assigned to the Financial Monitoring Agency. The watchdog will report to the executive by mid-March.

Offering capped electricity rates, Kazakhstan became a magnet for crypto miners, following China’s crackdown on the industry. While they were initially welcome, their growing power gap was later blamed for the energy-intensive nature of their production. In the midst of winter blackouts and increased electricity imports from Russia, the government had to close down its legal mining farms.

Mass protests over rising energy costs, mainly fuel prices, erupted in the first days of the year, threatening Tokayev’s rule. In an effort to calm the chaos, Tokayev’s administration shut down all banks and closed the internet access, which affected bitcoin mining as well. Some miners have been forced to look elsewhere because of the political chaos and disruptions to power supplies.

What do you think? Do more people want to work in crypto mining after these government decisions were made? Comment below.

Lubomir Tassav

Lubomir Tassev is a journalist from tech-savvy Eastern Europe who likes Hitchens’s quote: “Being a writer is what I am, rather than what I do.” Besides crypto, blockchain and fintech, international politics and economics are two other sources of inspiration.