By Alicia Maher
Crypto miners’ problems aren’t over yet. While several of them moved to Kazakhstan from China following China’s ban on all crypto activities, the miners are now facing new power issues in their new settlement. Kazakhstan authorities are considering evicting crypto miners due to constant electricity shut-outs.
Civil Unrest And New Government Demands
The constant electricity shutdowns led to various protests forcing the authorities to cut out the internet. Even though there have been fewer protests recently, the authorities consider stricter policies for crypto miners. If this becomes true, most of these miners would likely have to seek new climes for their operations.
Thus, many of them consider the US or Russia as better alternatives. Some local news outlets predict that the government may not ban crypto mining activities. Instead, it would increase the taxes that these crypto miners have to pay to use electricity.
Additional Charges For Crypto Miners
Recently, the nation’s first deputy minister of finance, Marat Sultangaziev, said that he had sent a proposal to the legislature that crypto miners should pay a specific amount monthly regardless of whether they have block reward earnings or use their ASICs.
Sultangaziev compared such payments with casino owners’ payments for using their machines. Before the proposal by the deputy minister, the country’s minister for digital development, Bagdat Musin, had claimed that unregistered crypto miners are the cause of the constant electricity shutdowns as they are consuming more than the estimated electricity allocated for crypto miners.
Hence, his suggestion was for the general public to forward the names of illegal crypto miners in their locality to the appropriate authorities. According to Musin, any miner that has failed to renew its operating license with his ministry would be considered to be operating illegally. The authorities had to cut miners from the electricity grid for the better part of last month to avoid the continuous electricity shutdown.
The rising fuel costs have led to shortages in electricity across the nation and various civil unrests. When the protests became unbearable for the government, it cut off internet access for the citizens. This internet shutdown negatively impacted hash rates for most crypto pools.
Georgia State Is Responsible For 35% Of Crypto Computing Power In The US – New Data
If crypto miners decide to leave Kazakhstan, the state of Georgia in the US may be their new destination. New data from the Foundry mining pool (the largest mining pool globally) has revealed that the city accounts for 35% of crypto computing power among foundry pools in the USA. Georgia’s utilization of nuclear power, solar power, and other sustainable sources make it an attractive option for miners who have to pay low energy costs.
Aside from providing energy at low costs, the state authorities also help miners offset their renewable energy credits. On some occasions, they also assist miners by providing them with energy costs 24 hours ahead of time. Thus, they can modify their operations to accommodate the changes in energy costs. Thus, this and many other factors are why most crypto mining firms are ordering more mining rigs to increase their mining activities.