Kazakhstan Invested $700 Million in Bitcoin Mining
Kazakhstan moving with a plan to boost the country’s economy by expanding its crypto mining sector to 300 billion tenges ($715 million). Today, it has the potential to attract investment worth 300 billion tenges, and talks are already underway to expand it. Moussa argued on Wednesday that expanding Kazakhstan’s already successful mining activities, driven by its access to cheap electricity, could boost revenues.
Kazakhstan’s transformation into a crypto-mining hub began after the thinning and halving of post-coin miners “margins left them looking for cheaper electricity. The Central Asian country has 13 mining operations. According to the Bitcoin Foundation, it accounts for about 10 percent of the world’s bitcoin mining capacity, making it the second-largest bitcoin miner behind China.
Thomas Heller, the chief officer of Bitcoin and media company HASHR8 said Kazakhstan has been a fast-growing country in recent years.
According to a recent report by the Bitcoin Foundation, hash rates have increased by 334% in the past year. Kazakhstan is one of the fastest-growing countries in terms of bitcoin mining capacity, “said Vitalik Buterin, co-founder and chief operating officer of Bitmain, the world’s largest bitcoin miner.
Heller added that Kazakhstan conditions are perfect for mining and that the country has several mining facilities, such as the world’s largest bitcoin mining facility in Almaty.
The reason being it’s close to China. The climate is cold. It has become a popular location for Chinese miners to move old machinery to Kazakhstan to take advantage of the low electricity prices during Sichuan’s hydropower season.
However, according to Heller, it is Kazakhstan’s positive attitude towards mining regulations that have cemented its position as a formidable mining candidate. In June, Kazakhstan passed a law change that effectively legitimized bitcoin mining to attract more companies.
In 2018, the Kazakh National Bank decided to ban cryptocurrencies altogether but instead pushed for industry regulation. There is no word yet on whether there will be any changes to Kazakh bitcoin mining regulations shortly.
Still, Heller remains optimistic that Kazakhstan’s emerging mining hub will overtake the front-runners with $700 million in support. He said: “We are confident of surpassing the big three players in mining shortly, China, the US, and Russia, due to the established nature of their mining infrastructure.
