Crypto Miners are Moving Out of Kazakhstan Due to Electricity Shortage

Isabella James, Tech Times 24 November 2021, 08:11 am

Some crypto miners are moving out of Kazakhstan and transferring to countries like Russia and the United States due to the electricity shortage in the Asian country, according to the co-founder of a crypto mining firm called Xive.

Xive itself has announced that it will be moving out of southern Kazakhstan, but the announcement has not made clear if the firm will be moving to another part of the country or not.

Kazakhstan is the second-largest crypto mining country in the whole world after the United States. It has generally welcomed crypto miners into the country, especially those who left China after crypto was considered illegal there.

However, the energy shortages in Kazakhstan have been blamed on crypto mining, which contributed to the surge in demand for power in the Asian nation.

Crypto Miners are Moving Out of Kazakhstan

There are crypto miners who are moving out of Kazakhstan due to the country's electricity shortage problems, according to the co-founder of a crypto mining firm called Xive.

According to a report by Fortune, Didar Bekbau announced in a tweet posted on his personal Twitter account that his crypto mining firm is moving out of southern Kazakhstan.

"Country risk played out," he said in the tweet. It has not been confirmed as of press time whether Xive will move to a different part of Kazakhstan or will move to a different country entirely.

Little sad to shut down our mining farm in south KZ. Last container is ready to be sent. So much work, people, hopes are ruined. Country risk played out pic.twitter.com/J8ZMg6GeUI
— Didar (@didar_bekbau) November 24, 2021

The Fortune report says that Bekbau pointed to electricity shortages as well as "a national grid that makes it hard to transfer power from energy-rich areas in the north to more energy scarce regions in the south" as the reasons why that area of the country is no longer ideal for crypto mining.

Bekbau has also claimed that some crypto mining firms in Asian countries are moving to places like Russia and the United States with more consistent electricity.

Crypto Mining in Kazakhstan

According to a report by CoinDesk, Kazakhstan is actually the second-largest crypto mining country in the world. The U.S is the largest crypto mining country.

Many crypto miners in the country came from China after the latter banned cryptocurrency in the country. China declared that all crypto are considered illegal in September.

The government of Kazakhstan has generally welcomed the crypto miners into the country, but the increase has strained Kazakhstan's energy supply.

Per Fortune, the country's lawmakers have blamed the electricity shortages on crypto mining. Kazakhstan's energy minister, Murat Zhurebekov, said it created an 8% surge in demand for energy.

The government has since encouraged crypto mining firms "to develop independent renewable energy capacity," according to the report by CoinDesk.

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Written by Isabella James