Key Takeaways:
- Energy officials in Kazakhstan say they have discovered 13 illegal data-mining farms.
- The illegal data-mining farms are discovered with a combined capacity of more than 200 megawatts in the last week.
According to a press release published yesterday, energy officials in Kazakhstan say they have discovered 13 illegal data-mining farms. The illegal data-mining farms were discovered with a combined capacity of more than 200 megawatts in the last week. The facilities can be found throughout the country. It includes the regions of Karaganda, Pavlodar, Turkestan, Akmola, and Kostanai and the cities of Nur-Sultan, Almaty, and Shymkent.
The press release said that “Employees of territorial departments of the Committee for Atomic and Energy Supervision and Control of the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan with the participation of representatives of law enforcement agencies and Other interested state bodies (hereinafter referred to as mobile groups) conducted joint audits with the purpose of digitization of digital mining facilities.”
The press release further said that “It should be noted that more information was presented with the results of the mobile group’s work on the revealed facts of the digital mining objects. As a result, the fact of digital mining activity with a total capacity of 31.3 MW was revealed in the Karaganda region, 22 MW in the Pavlodar region, 3.28 MW in the Turkestan region, 1.03 MW in the Akmola region, 0.82 MW in the Kostanay region, 1.8 MW in Nur-Sultan, 3.5 MW in Almaty, and 4 MW in Shymkent.”
In addition, the construction of a saloon in the West Kazakhstan region with a total capacity of 91 MW was introduced in the Karaganda region – 44 MW. Furthermore, the work of mobile groups for the screening and opening of electrical networks of mining farms will continue, and operational and joint activities will be carried out by the authorized bodies on the proven mining farm.
Bagdat Musin, Minister of Digital Development, Innovation, and Aerospace Industry, declared war on unlicensed crypto miners this year. He appealed to the public for assistance in enforcing the crackdown. On February 3, he said that “Gray miners are doing a lot of harm to our power grid. The energy costs of illegal mining are estimated to exceed 1 gigawatt”.
A few days later, after Bagdaat Musin, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev directed the government to develop guidelines for regulating and developing the industry. He said on February 8 that “The government should develop a full-fledged package of solutions for the regulation and development of digital mining. I expect results by April 1. Of course, the government is not opposed to ‘white’ miners. Still, people who want to operate in this sector must have a license, get their electricity at the appropriate tariffs, declare their income and pay taxes, and get involved in green projects.”
