One of the world’s largest cryptocurrency mines located in Kazakhstan

According to the latest report published by Cambridge University experts in January 2022, Kazakhstan, which ranks third after the USA and China with a 13.22 percent share in cryptocurrency mining, has close to 300 crypto mines.

Anadolu Agency made a visit to the data center of Enegix company, which has been operating in Kazakhstan since 2019 and is among the largest crypto mines in the world.

To reach the huge facility near the city of Ekibastuz in the north of the country, it is necessary to travel about 300 kilometers from the capital Astana.

The facility is located in Ekibastuz because the cold climate of region in winter time and mild in summer allows crypto computers that work day and night to work regularly without any temperature issues.

In the facility, which was built on a total area of 15 hectares in the middle of the wide steppe and where strict security measures were taken, there are 8 large hangars where computers designed for cryptocurrency mining are placed.

Here, about 55,000 computers are working non-stop to earn their owners the world’s most expensive cryptocurrency, the Bitcoin.

However, those who enter these hangars for the first time are greeted with an unfamiliar noise. The buzzing sound from the machines is what crypto miners call among themselves “the sound of digital money.”

Yersayin Nurtoleuov, Manager of Enegix Company Hosting (Hosting) Department, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that as a company, they hold a 1.3 percent share of global Bitcoin.

While Nurtileuov stating that the facility has the power to supply customers with 180 megawatts of electricity per hour, “We call our customers as investors who have placed their devices (computers) in our data center.

They just bring their devices us and as for taking care of the processes such as powering up the devices, connecting to the internet and providing access to global crypto network power of those devices, we are in the charge. So, our company generally hosts crypto-mining devices and provides the basic infrastructure for it to work.” he said.

Noting that they have all kinds of facilities in the facility for Bitcoin mining, Nurtoleuov said that the most important of these is the uninterrupted supply of electricity and the 24/7 inspection of the devices.

Nurtoleuov noted that they employ more than 100 people to ensure that even a single computer does not stop working, “Usually, we have young IT specialists work here. We train our employees here. Since they work in 15-day shifts, we have a dormitory and a cafeteria within the boundaries of our facility.” he said.

How did Kazakhstan become the world leader in cryptocurrency mining?

Factors such as cheap electricity and favorable weather conditions in Kazakhstan led to the industrialization of cryptocurrency mining in the country in 2019.

Especially in the summer of 2021, with the ban on all kinds of cryptocurrency mining in China, the industry started to shift to the neighboring country Kazakhstan.

Influenced by Chinese crypto miners, Kazakhstan rose to the second place in the world after the USA in global cryptocurrency mining in a short time.

While this paved the way for illegal crypto mining in the country, it also increased the pressure on the electricity sector.

With the mass blackout across Central Asia in January 2022, Kazakhstan’s state-owned power grid company KEGOC cut off electricity to 196 crypto mining companies operating across the country due to the difficulty in balancing electricity and the capacity of an integrated power system.

In this regard, President Kassym Zhomart Tokayev instructed at the government’s extended meeting on February 8, 2022, to identify crypto miners working illegally, raise the tax in this area, and legally regulate cryptocurrency mining.

In June, the country imposed a quarterly tax on cryptocurrency miners based on the amount of electricity they consume.