Forex in this article
Over the past year, many bitcoin miners have migrated to Kazakhstan from China, driving up the country’s electricity consumption
In order to ensure the power supply again, Kazakhstan is now taking action against illegal miners
In the meantime, over 100 companies have had to stop their crypto mining, and devices worth around 200 million US dollars have been confiscated
When China banned Bitcoin mining and other cryptocurrency-related activities in 2021, many miners migrated from China to neighboring Kazakhstan. Since then, according to BTC-Echo, Kazakhstan has been the second largest mining hotspot in the world after the USA. Information portal Cointelegraph reports that as of August 2021, Kazakhstan has covered as much as 18 percent of the world’s bitcoin mining.
advertising
Use volatile market phases as a trading opportunity: now trade cryptocurrencies directly with leverage.
77% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should carefully consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money
The number of illegal miners has already been significantly reduced
At the end of last year, problems with the national electricity supply arose in Kazakhstan – due to excessive crypto mining, the Kazakh government announced at the time. In order to ensure the power supply again, a temporary mining ban was issued, and the country is now taking action against illegal crypto mining.
And successfully so: only 25 illegal mining companies are now registered with the authorities, according to Cointelegraph, citing a press release issued on March 15 by the Kazakh financial regulator.
More than 100 companies have already had to stop their mining activities
A total of 55 illegal miners are said to have already voluntarily stopped their activities, and another 51 companies have been closed by the authorities. According to Cointelegraph, the affected actors have been guilty of late reporting of their mining activities, illegal procurement of electricity or tax evasion. People of national importance are also involved in the illegal mining, such as a former chief of the drug investigation department of the national police.
According to Cointelegraph, the devices confiscated as part of the fight against illegal activities are now worth almost $200 million.
Since then, nationwide power consumption has fallen again
As Cointelegraph reports, the press release from Kazakhstan’s financial regulator announces that it intends to set up a cross-departmental task force to make systematic decisions about the problematic events. In the meantime, 25 criminal prosecutions have been opened against illegal miners – and since then the nationwide daily power consumption has fallen by a whole 600 megawatt hours (MWh).
Olga Rogler / Editor finanzen.net
Image sources: Wit Olszewski / Shutterstock.com, 3Dsculptor / Shutterstock.com