Kazakhstan busts 13 illegal Bitcoin mining farms amid power concerns

Kazakhstan’s energy authority has identified and disconnected 13 unauthorized crypto mining farms in the country, as the government continues to ramp up efforts to regulate the sector.

Fast facts

• The Ministry of Energy said on Monday that an inspection team has shut down 13 mining facilities with a total power consumption of 202 megawatts.
• Authorities vowed to find more illegal miners.
• Kazakhstan became the world’s second-largest Bitcoin producer last year after miners moved there en masse following China’s mining crackdowns, but an unstable power supply has made for an increasingly fraught mining environment in the Central Asian nation, triggering a new migration wave.
• Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev legitimized Bitcoin mining last June by approving a tax band for crypto mining, but started to call for raising mining taxes this month.
• The government is expected to develop a full-fledged package of measures to regulate mining by April 1, local media reported.