Kazakhstan rolls out rules for miners to apply for capped fees on electricity usage

Kazakhstan’s government intends to fill up the national Bitcoin reserve by withholding a portion of the cryptocurrency extracted under new rules for “strategic digital mining.”

The recently approved framework offers participating miners preferential access to electric power in exchange for up to a tenth of all coins minted in their data processing facilities.

Kazakhstan to tap into cryptocurrency mined in the country

Authorities in Astana have elaborated a scheme to replenish Kazakhstan’s crypto reserve by diverting some of the digital currency minted in the Central Asian nation.

The executive power in the capital has adopted new rules for “strategic mining,” which boil down to offering selected enterprises guaranteed supply of much-needed electricity.

Mining firms are to return the favor by transferring to the state up to 10% of the coins produced in their Bitcoin farms, after deducting the cost of the electrical energy consumed in the process.

The new regulations, contained in a recently published government decree, are set to come into full effect on August 1, 2026, the Russian crypto news outlet Bits.media revealed Thursday.

The document introduces 10-year quotas for power supplied initially by the state-run Ekibastuz-1 coal-fired thermal power plant in the Pavlodar region of northeastern Kazakhstan.

It allows miners to purchase a total of 300 megawatts (MW) of electricity at capped rates directly from one of the country’s largest producers, bypassing distributors.

Participants will have to maintain a separate wallet to store and transfer the cryptocurrency minted under the new program, although they won’t be prohibited from mining outside of it.

Strategic mining companies to meet strict requirements

To take advantage of the government-proposed incentives under the “strategic digital mining” initiative, mining entities need to submit a formal application.

The latter must be accompanied with documents proving they are compliant with a long list of requirements, as detailed in a report by the Zakon.kz information portal.

These include owning a data processing center designed for cryptocurrency mining with a minimum capacity of 150 MW and controlling computing power of at least 150 TH/s per rig.

The businesses should have no outstanding debt on mandatory payments to the budget, including taxes, fees, pension and social security contributions, or any encumbrances on their property.

They are obliged to ensure proper internet access, including by signing separate contracts with at least two telecom operators for the provision of data transmission services.

Furthermore, the mining operators should have a service center set up for repairing mining hardware and software on the premises of their coin minting facilities.

The staff hired to run the crypto farms must be qualified for this kind of job and possess the respective diplomas and certificates from educational institutions, manufacturers and training courses.

Approved mining companies will be able to enter into an electricity supply agreement with the Ekibastuz-1 power plant and other energy producers in the future.

Kazakhstan takes another step toward crypto hub status

Kazakhstan first appeared on the global crypto map as a Bitcoin mining destination in the wake of China’s decision to enforce a ban on the activity a few years ago.

The massive influx of miners at the time led to growing power shortages. Astana dealt with the deficit by imposing higher electricity rates for miners and curbing illegal mining operations.

Since then, the Kazakh government has taken a series of steps to regulate the industry within a wider strategy to turn the country into a Eurasian crypto hub.

The former-Soviet republic recently issued the first license for crypto exchange services under its updated law “On Digital Assets,” as previously reported by Cryptopolitan.

The revised legislation, which was originally adopted and enforced in 2023, now gives miners more legal options to locally exchange their minted cryptocurrency into fiat.

In parallel, Kazakhstan has been building a cryptocurrency reserve under the control of its central bank. The plan to create one was first announced at the beginning of this year.

While the nation intends to invest a significant portion of its funds, including gold and forex reserves, in financial instruments providing indirect exposure to crypto, its holdings will also be formed from seized and mined digital currency.

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