Kazakh authorities shut down 13 illegal cryptomining businesses that together have 202 megawatts of electricity capacity.
The country has faced severe power outages over the past few months. Kazakh authorities are on the hunt for illegal miners to reduce the load on the national grid.
According to the statement made by the Kazakhstan Ministry of Energy, employees of the Nuclear and Energy Audit Committee and the Ministry of Energy, together with the police and other government agency representatives, conducted inspections in the last five days.
Minister of Energy Magzum Myrzagaliev announced that 600 MW of electricity is used in legal operations, and 340 MW in illegal activities.
Kazakhstan became an important location for mining as miners operating in China were forced to leave the country. According to
Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index, until August, Kazakhstan accounted for 18% of computing power on the Bitcoin network.