Chinese mining rig maker Canaan boosts self-mining business in Kazakhstan

Chinese cryptocurrency mining rig maker Canaan doesn’t seem to shy away from running its own mining business in Kazakhstan despite a power shortage situation in the Central Asian nation, which has become a popular destination for Chinese miners amid China’s clampdown on the sector.

Fast facts

• Canaan announced today it has started joint mining operations with local partners in Kazakhstan, with the delivery of over 2,000 Avalon Miner units to the country.

• It said in a company statement that more mining machines are expected to arrive in Kazakhstan throughout the week as it completes the deployment and establishment of its overseas joint mining operations in compliance with local rules.

• Canaan said its joint mining business in Kazakhstan came to fruition in partnership with its top three clients there that are authorized by the country’s energy ministry. “After six months of practice and learning, Canaan is now fully compliant and aligned to the local legal, taxation, and business requirements, signing up to 1 million TH/s of computing power that is due for deployment by the end of January 2022,” Nangeng Zhang, chairman and CEO of Canaan, said in the statement.

• China may be trying harder than ever to stomp out cryptocurrency mining, but rig makers appear to be spared from the clampdown. Canaan’s third-quarter report released last week showed it recorded a net income of 467.2 million yuan (US$72.5 million) in the period, compared to a net loss of 86.4 million yuan (US$13.5 million) in the same period last year and a net income of 167.3 million yuan (US$26.2 million) in the second quarter this year.

• The company does not rule out the possibility of trading the Bitcoin it holds in the future, it said in the statement.

• While Kazakhstan continues to face power shortages, the country’s energy minister said earlier this month the authority will not restrict power consumption for legal crypto miners, according to a government statement.

• The latest data from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance indicated that at the end of August, Kazakhstan came in second in terms of global hashrate share, accounting for 18.1% of the total, up from 8.2% at the end of April.