Kazakhstan legalizes strategic mining: energy quotas in exchange for crypto reserves
The Government of Kazakhstan has officially approved the rules for strategic digital mining. The document comes into effect on August 1, marking a significant step for the entire crypto industry in the region.
The key essence of the new model is operating under an electricity quota at capped tariffs in exchange for the mandatory transfer of a portion of the mined assets. Miners seeking access to cheap energy will be required to send the mined coins to the autonomous cluster fund "Astana Hub." From there, the assets are transferred to the trust management of JSC "National Investment Corporation of the National Bank of Kazakhstan," which will invest them in the National Strategic Crypto Reserve.
Requirements for Participants: Strict Selection
To operate in this mode, a miner must submit an application through the office of the authorized body or the state electronic database. The list of requirements is quite stringent:
- Data center for mining with a capacity of at least 150 MW;
- Connection to networks from substations of 35 kV and above with an allowed capacity of at least 1 MW;
- Equipment with a hash rate of each unit of at least 150 TH/s;
- No debt on mandatory payments and no encumbrances on property;
- Availability of two contracts with telecom operators, a service center, and qualified personnel on site.
If rejected due to non-compliance, the miner may reapply—except in cases where the reason is related to a lack of available electricity capacity. After approval, it is necessary to sign contracts with "Astana Hub" and an energy-producing organization from the approved list, as well as create a new crypto wallet for distributing the mined assets.
Combination with Regular Mining
The rules allow combining strategic digital mining with regular activities. Simultaneously, the procedure for distributing digital assets to be transferred to the National Strategic Crypto Reserve has been approved. Recall that on July 8, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a decree "On measures to stimulate and develop the digital assets industry in the republic."
My expert commentary: Kazakhstan is consistently moving toward creating a state crypto reserve, and this step is a logical continuation of the legalization policy. However, the stringent requirements for capacity and equipment effectively cut off small miners, consolidating the market in the hands of large players. In the long term, this could lead to a decrease in mining decentralization in the region, but for the state, it is an effective tool for monetizing energy surpluses.