For over a year, the oil-rich central asian nation of Kazakhstan has consolidated its status as the third-biggest contributor to bitcoin (BTC) mining after outpacing russia late February 2021.
As of January 2022, Kazakhstan made a significant contribution to 13.22% of the total bitcoin hash rates, took great after the historical leaders, the United States (37.84%) and China (21.11%), as seen below.
Along roughly comparable timeframes, Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance Data projected that Kazakhstan’s absolute hash-rate contribution (monthly average) had been 24.8 exahashes per second (eh/s). Meanwhile, the US and China contributed 71 eh/s and 39.6 eh/s, in both.
The International Energy Agency (IEA), which is co-funded by the European Union, highlighted Kazakhstan’s heavy reliance on non-renewable energy, such as oil (over 50%), coal (28%) and natural gas (17%) until 2020. The study revealed:
Most coal is used for electricity and heat generation, while most oil is used by final consumers, particularly in road transport.
However, the top three countries contributing to the Bitcoin hash rate continue to eat away the share of other players, such as Malaysia, Germany and Iran. Kazakhstan was among the first to welcome the displaced Chinese miners when the Chinese government imposed a blanket ban on Bitcoin and crypto mining and trading.
China resumed mining operations in September 2022, but the temporary mining ban stripped the country’s position as the biggest Bitcoin mining hub, placing the US at the top ever since.
Local media reports from Kazakhstan spotlighted the country’s intensions to legalize a mechanism for converting cryptocurrencies to fiat.
Speaking at the international forum Digital Bridge 2022, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev shared his vision to make Kazakhstan a leader in the field of virtual innovation, cryptocurrency ecosphere and regulated mining. He said;
“we are ready to go further. whether this financial tool proves its further significance and security, it will probably receive full legal acknowledgement,” Tokayev noted.
