In Kazakhstan, businesses that mine cryptocurrency will be permitted to buy surplus electricity on a government-regulated market — the KOREM exchange. The move is accompanied by new legislation that was approved by MPs and that governs the operations of the sector and the taxes of its profits.
The bill “On Digital Assets of the Republic of Kazakhstan” and four related draught laws, which seek to regulate mining and other crypto-related activities, have been approved by the lower house of Kazakhstan’s parliament, the Mazhilis.
Ekaterina Smyshlyaeva, a member of the Mazhilis, commented on the new system and emphasised that transactions will be controlled by market mechanisms, pointing out that pricing limits have been eliminated for that surplus amount of electricity.
Additionally, the bill introduces two types of mining permits. Entities that run infrastructure, including data processing centres, will be granted the first kind. They will need to adhere to strict requirements for security, location, and equipment.
The second one will be given to owners of mining equipment who rent space in cryptocurrency farms but don’t use any of their allotted electricity. According to Smyshlyaeva, mining pools will also be subject to extra requirements, such as the need for Kazakhstan-based servers and adherence to national information security laws.
Since China put the kibosh on the industry in 2021, Kazakhstan has emerged as one of the world’s top locations for cryptocurrency mining. Kazakhstan has attributed its expanding power deficit to the flood of miners. Recent agreements with Russia state that Kazakhstan’s mining farms will also receive Russian electricity.
