Ever since China banned cryptocurrencies, crypto miners have been trying to either keep illegal mining rigs in the country or change location. Now, crypto miners that left China are causing power shortages in Kazakhstan, although wider grid failures are also to blame.
Government to Temporarily Cut Off Some Miners
The government of Kazakhstan and its energy ministry noticed that the country’s electricity demand had jumped ever since the China ban. Before 2021, the demand was about 1% on average, while in 2021, there was an evident increase of 8%.
Starting October, a total of six regions in Kazakhstan have faced power surges. What’s more, three major power plants in the north went into emergency shutdown last month.
On the other hand, cryptocurrency miners are not warned of any blackouts, nor do they have the timeframe as to when the power will be restored.
For some miners, this made the mining business impossible to manage.
Still, about 87,849 mining rigs were moved to Kazakhstan from China after the crypto ban, many of which are not officially registered with the Ministry of Energy.
This sudden need for electricity forced the country to turn to Russia for help. Earlier this month, Russia’s deputy prime minister Alexander Novak stated that the Russian companies would supply power to Kazakhstan based on commercial terms.