Do you keep tabs on cryptocurrency, but aren’t sure how Kazakhstan’s energy crisis is related? Or maybe, you don’t even know about the energy crisis and want to learn more?

The energy crisis in Kazakhstan started in September and October of 2021 and has slowly been getting worse until it hit peak problems in early 2022. This crisis was caused, in large part, due to the movement of cryptocurrency mining to Kazakhstan. 

Keep reading to learn more about the energy crisis in Kazakhstan and how cryptocurrency led to the problem.

Why is the Energy Crisis Occurring?

In May of 2021, China banned all cryptocurrency mining in the country. This created a major shift in the cryptocurrency world. At the time of the ban, over 80 percent of all Bitcoin mining occurred in China, no matter where people and companies operated out of.

When the ban occurred, a lot of mining groups were forced to move. Since the US and Canada were so far away and cost a lot of money to ship out, many of them were moved to Kazakhstan.

While it is only at 18 percent, and nowhere near the 80 percent that China had, it is causing a strain on the energy grid.

By September 2021, since China shut down cryptocurrency mining, that 18 percent was met, which tripled the amount of cryptocurrency mining that Kazakhstan handled. This made it the second-largest mining supplier in the world, behind the United States.

When Did The Energy Crisis First Start?

It has been slowly building since early 2018 when mining started to perform at high levels in Kazakhstan. However, when China banned cryptocurrency mining and new places had to be looked at that the problems started to occur.

August of 2021 is when warnings of problems with Kazakhstan’s power grid were really starting to show. By October 5th, 2021, the first warning was sent out that there would be a serious chance of power failure in the future.

At the time of that warning, power consumption in Kazakhstan had already increased by 11.8 percent just in 2021 from the year before. It didn’t take long until the grid shut down.

What Is Being Done To Reduce The Crisis

Since that first blackout, a lot has happened. The government tried to work hard to educate miners on how to be better and not break the local laws. The miners that are breaking the law are known as gray miners while those handling things legally are considered white miners.

Unfortunately, there has been a huge spike in these gray miners in Kazakhstan, with individuals working out of abandoned buildings and basements. Some of the more legitimate companies and miners did try to leave following the energy crisis, but it hasn’t helped much.

In January of this year (2022), gas and energy prices increased in Kazakhstan. Demonstrations filled the country by January 2022. These prices were implemented as a way to prevent another power failure.

However, the protests grew until on January 15th, the president, Kassym Tokayev decided there was no other choice than to declare a state of emergency. Desperate and not seeing another option, he shut down the internet.

The effect was immediate. Bitcoin mining activity alone dropped by over 13 percent. The president took it a step further and called all of these people protesting terrorists, arrested thousands of people, and encouraged open fire by his troops.

To try and save their power grid and keep it from failing, Kazakhstan relied on energy grids from nearby countries. However, another one of these countries also experienced a power shortage, which caused a power surge in Kazakhstan.

A total loss of more than 1500 megawatts was reached from this surge and the entire grid was shut down. As a final straw, the Kazakhstan government shut down energy mining companies.

What Does This Mean For The Future Of Mining?

Now, it is almost impossible for companies to get on the internet stably enough to move forward with their mining, especially when trying to set it up to work on a regular or semi-regular basis.

As of April of this year, more regulations have been enacted. While these regulations do not outright ban cryptocurrency, it makes it almost impossible for companies to continue working there legally.

For a while, miners were planning to move to Russia instead, but due to the war between Russia and Ukraine, that was halted. The future of cryptocurrency is a little hectic right now as companies try to decide the best place to move to, and countries are working to learn how to handle the power demand that cryptocurrency mining requires.

What is Mining City?

Mining City is a platform that provides mining plans, giving users access to hash power and mining rewards. The idea for the platform was conceived in October 2019 by Greg Rogowski, the brand owner of Mining City and the CEO of Prophetek.

Prophetek is the company behind the Mining City platform. It is based in Cyprus, a country with clearer cryptocurrency regulations than many other European countries.

A technological process, combining low electricity costs with storage and miner improvements, known as “Smart Mining,” became an effective way to obtain BTC.

Is Mining City Legit?

Mining City provides real hash power for users. Mining City also leaves banned markets and takes a compliant approach to new laws and regulations, adjusting to global markets.

There have been many widespread scams and attempts to defraud cryptocurrency customers over the past several years, which has prompted increased regulation and efforts by responsible companies to deter fraudulent activities and scams.

The cryptocurrency and crypto mining industries are new and gradually become more and more regulated markets. As new regulations go into effect, reputable market players, like Mining City adjust.  This may mean leaving markets where crypto-related activities face new bans. That may also mean having to adjust products or services to stay in line with new laws.

You can follow Mining City’s official social media portals on Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, YouTube and Twitter to observe what Mining City undertakes to adjust to new regulations and requirements and to give Mining City your support in their efforts to become fully compliant.

Conclusion

Cryptocurrency is still new, and the impacts it will have on governments and countries are still being learned. With China closing its doors to cryptocurrency mining, things are changing faster and more dramatically than people predicted.

Now, countries are struggling, especially Kazakhstan, to produce enough power to support their people and mining without causing huge price increases. Kazakhstan shows what we need to worry about and try to mitigate as our cryptocurrency mining demands increase.