Unlicensed cryptocurrency mining continues to cause financial losses in Kazakhstan, despite government efforts to bring the industry out of the shadows.
Kazakhstan’s financial authorities have calculated that since the beginning of 2024, the state has lost approximately 1,3 billion tenge (over $2,3 million) due to illegal mining farms. During the same period, investigators opened 17 criminal cases, according to the country’s Financial Monitoring Agency (FMA).
Most of the illegal ones Bitcoin- farms were found in the capital Astana and its environs (5 farms), in the city of Shymkent in the south of Kazakhstan and in Kostanay in the north (3 each).
It should be noted that some illegal mining farms were operating by stealing electricity equivalent to the consumption of a large city. There were also cases of violations of the rights of residents living near noisy farms, the agency representative reported.
The cryptocurrency boom in Kazakhstan began after restrictions on the industry came into effect in China, immediately triggering a significant electricity shortage in the country.
The government has addressed this issue through regulation and pricing, at least for licensed cryptocurrency miners. However, unregistered mining farms, often powered by illegally obtained electricity, remain a serious problem for authorities.