Following China’s crypto mining crackdown, many miners migrated to neighboring nations such as Russia and Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is now the second-largest contributor to Bitcoin’s overall hashrate, after only the United States.
This has resulted in energy concerns in the areas that were primarily targeted by miners. As a result, Russia intends to raise energy tariffs for mining activity. The usage of fossil fuels in Bitcoin mining has prompted environmental concerns in the United States, while the influence on greenhouse gas emissions is debatable.
Kazakhstan has now followed suit in expressing worries about the security of their electricity grid, to the point that vice minister of energy Murat Zhurebekov has declared that dealing with these issues “cannot be delayed any longer.” Crypto mining in Kazakhstan is predicted to require 1.2 Gigawatts of energy, accounting for around 8% of the country’s overall energy output.
The majority of the energy ministry’s concerns stem from unregistered “grey” miners, who are frequently private persons who keep their mining rigs in their basements. Some of the largest unreported mining activities are housed in abandoned factories.
Zhurebekov intends to create a new guideline to limit grey miners’ power consumption. He did not say how authorities are intended to find these mines, but satellites that follow the heat signatures of mining rigs could be an alternative.
Some grey miners have shown an interest in registering, although they may be put off by taxation and additional expenses. A tax of 0.23 US cents per kW/h on top of the usual energy price has already passed the legislative procedure. It is slated to go into effect in January 2022 for registered, white mining firms.
