Kazakhstan Discovers 13 Illegal Bitcoin Mining Farms Within 5 Days - Energy Ministry

ALMATY (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st February, 2022) Regulators in Kazakhstan have discovered 13 illegal cryptocurrency mining farms in five days of inspections, whose total energy consumption is estimated at 202 megawatts (MW), the Kazakh Ministry of Energy said on Monday.

"As a result of the probes conducted over the past five days, 13 mining farms with a total power consumption of 202 MW have been identified and stopped by mobile teams," the ministry said in a statement.

The statement went on to say that the authorized bodies were carrying out investigative and operational activities on detection of the illegal cryptocurrency mining farms.

Electricity demand in Kazakhstan ballooned in 2021 on the back of the proliferation of cryptocurrency mining.

On February 8, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev ordered his cabinet to audit the cryptocurrency mining industry. According to Tokayev, the country is not against legal mining, but market participants must have licenses, receive electricity on adequate tariffs, declare their incomes, and pay taxes.

According to the latest University of Cambridge research, Kazakhstan as of August 2021 took second place with an 18.1% share in terms of bitcoin mining in the world. The first place was taken by the United States with 35.4%, the third by Russia with a share of 11.2%.