This week, Kazakhstan’s data center for minting cryptocurrencies was disconnected from the country’s power grid and will remain without power for the rest of January. The measure comes as the country faces power shortages blamed on crypto mining and cold winter blackouts.
Crypto miners in Kazakhstan lose power
Local media revealed that Bitcoin mining facilities in Kazakhstan were disconnected from the electricity supply on Monday, January 24, and will remain closed until January 31. According to Informburo.kz, the restrictions were imposed after state-run grid operator KEGOC issued a blackout warning to 196 organisations across the country on January 21.
The power company has notified all 69 registered mining companies of the production cuts, citing “tensions to maintain power and capacity balance in a unified energy system” as the main reason.A copy of this notice is post Journalist Serikzhan Mauletbay and his colleagues on Telegram.
Kazakhstan has emerged as a major mining hotspot after China began cracking down on the industry in May 2021.The Central Asian country initially welcomed miner and take measures adjust the department but later blame The electricity deficit, which exceeded 7 percent in the first three quarters of last year, continued to widen.power shortage has forced Some mining companies left.
A major power line in southern Kazakhstan was cut on Tuesday, with power outages in parts of the country, Bloomberg reported. The outage also affected power in neighboring Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, leaving people without electricity in all three countries.
Informburo.kz stated in its report that the outage experienced by residents of southern Kazakhstan on January 25 was not the fault of legally operating cryptocurrency miners. The publication quoted Alan Dorjiyev, chairman of the Kazakhstan Blockchain and Data Center Industry Association, who pointed out that the issues are related to aging infrastructure rather than crypto miners. He commented:
How many times have we said that? In fact, the problem with electricity is not the miners. Our entire system is at risk.
Kazakhstan has maintained a cap on electricity prices, and Dorgiyev noted that the industry remains severely underfunded. “Miners at some point became an excuse for KEGOC and the Ministry of Energy,” Dogiev added.
Russian officials, had to increase power exit For Kazakhstan, the current situation has similar reasons, including insufficient investment in the modernization and upgrading of the country’s power infrastructure, and power generation.
Rising energy prices, mainly for natural gas and other fuels, sparked mass protests in Kazakhstan in early January and escalated into violent clashes with police. To quell the unrest, the government restricted access to the internet and closed local banks. The situation has also affected crypto mining, threatening the global Bitcoin hash rate, which last year surpassed 18 percent.
Do you think Kazakhstan will be able to solve the problem of electricity supply in the near future? Let us know in the comments section below.
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