Kazakhstan is increasing reporting requirements on electricity consumption by crypto miners

The government of Kazakhstan has set new reporting requirements for cryptocurrency miners, with a keen eye on how the industry’s energy consumption impacts the local power grid.

The order, released earlier this week by the country’s Minister of Digital Development, requires digital mining companies to provide comprehensive information 30 days before the start of operations.

The power consumption and the “Technical Data” for connection to the power grid must be provided before commissioning. It must also include the amount and type of mining equipment used, customs cargo declarations for that equipment, and any investments planned for the next 12 months.

Kazakhstan has been inundated with an influx of crypto miners after the Chinese government cracked down on the practice in mid-2021. The increasing use of mining rigs in the country strained the energy supply, forcing the Kazakh government to act by temporarily cutting off power to miners.

The new reporting requirements also state that miners must provide information about the legal entity conducting the operation, which must be based in the Republic of Kazakhstan, along with contact information and physical and IP addresses used in their activities.

The same information must be updated and presented in a mandatory quarterly report, companies that are ending mining operations must report when they have done so.

The latest order is an update of an existing ministerial order of October 2020 setting out rules for the provision of information about digital mining activities.

Related: “We are the second largest crypto miner in the world and see virtually no financial return,” says Kazakhstan’s President Tokayev

In February, proposals to increase electricity prices and taxes for crypto miners were put forward, proposing a 335% increase in the price of electricity and removing the value-added tax (VAT) exemption for mining equipment and instead taxing it by piece.

Kazakh authorities have been trying to root out illegal crypto mining operations in the country as they put a strain on the energy grid. In March, 106 illegal crypto-mining operations were shut down following raids by the Financial Monitoring Agency, which seized over 67,000 pieces of equipment at the time.

The August 2021 Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI) update shows that Kazakhstan hosted over 18% of the world’s BTC hash rate, second only to the United States.