Bitcoin Mining in Inherited Apartment in a small town in Kazakhstan?

[anzm91]

Hi everyone,

I’m living in Germany and considering getting into Bitcoin mining, but with a bit of an unusual setup.

My grandmother from Kazakhstan sadly passed away this year, and my father is unsure what to do with her apartment in Kazakhstan – whether to sell it, rent it out, or keep it. I had the idea to keep the apartment and use it for Bitcoin mining instead of letting it sit unused.

The basic plan: I’d buy an Antminer (e.g., the S19K Pro or something similar) and run it there – possibly two or three devices. The apartment would have no other electricity usage besides the miners. Since winters there are extremely cold, cooling wouldn’t be a big issue. During the summer, I could simply shut everything down and maybe use the place for vacation.

Before I dive deep into researching electricity rates, ASIC import logistics, remote management, noise, heat, etc., I’d love to hear from people with real-world mining experience:

Is this kind of setup even fundamentally profitable these days?

ChatGPT says yes – especially considering low electricity prices in Kazakhstan – but I wanted to get insights from folks who’ve actually mined before or are currently mining.

I’d also really appreciate any thoughts on:
– Which ASICs are most worth it (new or used)?
– Expected lifespan if used mainly during cold months?
– Issues I might run into when managing it remotely?
– Risks like noise complaints, downtime, or power issues?

Thanks in advance for any input!

[philipma1957]

Hi everyone,

I’m living in Germany and considering getting into Bitcoin mining, but with a bit of an unusual setup.

My grandmother from Kazakhstan sadly passed away this year, and my father is unsure what to do with her apartment in Kazakhstan – whether to sell it, rent it out, or keep it. I had the idea to keep the apartment and use it for Bitcoin mining instead of letting it sit unused.

The basic plan: I’d buy an Antminer (e.g., the S19K Pro or something similar) and run it there – possibly two or three devices. The apartment would have no other electricity usage besides the miners. Since winters there are extremely cold, cooling wouldn’t be a big issue. During the summer, I could simply shut everything down and maybe use the place for vacation.

Before I dive deep into researching electricity rates, ASIC import logistics, remote management, noise, heat, etc., I’d love to hear from people with real-world mining experience:

Is this kind of setup even fundamentally profitable these days?

ChatGPT says yes – especially considering low electricity prices in Kazakhstan – but I wanted to get insights from folks who’ve actually mined before or are currently mining.

I’d also really appreciate any thoughts on:
– Which ASICs are most worth it (new or used)?
– Expected lifespan if used mainly during cold months?
– Issues I might run into when managing it remotely?
– Risks like noise complaints, downtime, or power issues?

Thanks in advance for any input!

if you add the epic controller you can run it quietly at reduced hash rates.

I sell these
https://www.ebay.com/itm/156984520065

the 3 board rate is 190 2

I run 2 board in it and do 100th

this earns $5.80 a day and burns 46kwatts at 3 cents that is 1.38
so 5.80-1.38= 4.42 daily profit for a unit

[FP91G]

Hi everyone,

I’d also really appreciate any thoughts on:
– Which ASICs are most worth it (new or used)?
– Expected lifespan if used mainly during cold months?
– Issues I might run into when managing it remotely?
– Risks like noise complaints, downtime, or power issues?

Thanks in advance for any input!

In Kazakhstan, electricity costs about the same as in Russia, averaging 5-8 cents. In an apartment in a small city, you can install 1-2 ASIC miners with a total power of no more than 7 kilowatts, and you will likely face inspections for high energy consumption. The authorities in Kazakhstan are also fighting against illegal mining.

I don't understand how you will manage the equipment from Germany. I mean the maintenance of the equipment as well.I don't want to talk about noise and other issues, but unfortunately, your energy consumption in the apartment is limited, and mining is illegal. Due to the low profit, I wouldn't take the risk.

Consider renting out the apartment; it might be more profitable and it's legal, or sell it.

[ABCbits]

My grandmother from Kazakhstan sadly passed away this year, and my father is unsure what to do with her apartment in Kazakhstan – whether to sell it, rent it out, or keep it. I had the idea to keep the apartment and use it for Bitcoin mining instead of letting it sit unused.

It's unrelated with mining, but i'd do research about feasibility of renting an apartment when you live in different country. I expect it'll be a challenge, since you can't easily go there if something gone wrong.

The authorities in Kazakhstan are also fighting against illegal mining.

In addition, that they performed large scale mining equipment confication in past[1]. While the government have plan to create cryptocurrency reserve[2], i unable to find news they would allow cryptocurrency mining again.

[1] https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/news/kazakhstan-confiscates-almost-200-million-in-crypto-mining-equipment
[2] https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/kazakhstan-plans-to-establish-bitcoin-and-crypto-reserve

[FP91G]

The authorities in Kazakhstan are also fighting against illegal mining.

In addition, that they performed large scale mining equipment confication in past[1]. While the government have plan to create cryptocurrency reserve[2], i unable to find news they would allow cryptocurrency mining again.

[1] https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/news/kazakhstan-confiscates-almost-200-million-in-crypto-mining-equipment
[2] https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/kazakhstan-plans-to-establish-bitcoin-and-crypto-reserve

You remember the story when Kazakhstan wanted to become the 3rd country in mining, but it ended badly because the outdated power grids could not handle the load.

I have friends in Kazakhstan, we speak the same language, and the situation is different in each city. In a private house there are opportunities for illegal mining, mining in an apartment is very dangerous.
The wires in the apartment are not designed for such a constant load, it is necessary to run a separate cable from the electrical panel to the apartment and do all this on the basis of a project. This is very difficult.

In Russia, a household stove in an apartment can be electric or gas. In Kazakhstan, the same thing.
If it is electric, then firstly, the electricity tariff in such apartments is lower, but in them you can also connect to an outlet for an electric stove.
If the stove is gas, then it will be a big problem to connect even 3 kilowatts of constant load.

[mikeywith]

Is this kind of setup even fundamentally profitable these days?

It's a guaranteed failure just by the looks of it.

1- You can't operate a mining farm in Kazakhstan while you live in Germany.
2- Your grandmother's house is probably hardly capable of running 1-2 gears before you start stressing the cables and MCBs and probably even the power meter
3- It's not worth the effort to run just 1-2 or even 5 gears
4- Having to shut down the gears in the summer makes ROI even worse

If it wasn't almost 4AM here and I was 10 years younger, I could add another dozen points of why NOT. I also got to the point where I am so tired of advising people not to waste their hard-earned money on mining and rather just buy coins instead.

[FP91G]

Long distance increases expenses and makes this method of earning unprofitable.
If you have relatives in Kazakhstan, you can buy several ASICs for solo mining and try your luck.

[philipma1957]

Is this kind of setup even fundamentally profitable these days?

It's a guaranteed failure just by the looks of it.

1- You can't operate a mining farm in Kazakhstan while you live in Germany.
2- Your grandmother's house is probably hardly capable of running 1-2 gears before you start stressing the cables and MCBs and probably even the power meter
3- It's not worth the effort to run just 1-2 or even 5 gears
4- Having to shut down the gears in the summer makes ROI even worse

If it wasn't almost 4AM here and I was 10 years younger, I could add another dozen points of why NOT. I also got to the point where I am so tired of advising people not to waste their hard-earned money on mining and rather just buy coins instead.

people do not understand that mining is commercial and miners suck hard on power.


so If I sold him my 2 modded t21's and he clocks them to 100th each he burns 4kwatts an hour

so 200 th is about 11.60 a day earnings

or 96 a day pretend it is 100 k-watts a day. easy math.

2 cent power the cost is 2 dollars  daily that is  11.60-2 =9.6  so in 400 days 3840 paid back
3 cent power the cost is 3 dollars  daily that is  11.60-3 =8.6  so in 400 days 3440 paid back
4 cent power the cost is 4 dollars  daily that is  11.60-4 =7.6  so in 400 days 3040 paid back
5 cent power the cost is 5 dollars  daily that is  11.60-5 =6.6 so in  400 days 2640 paid back


my machines list for 1776 each total 3552 plus tax plus shipping to Germany (not sure customs allow them).

even if I said send me 3000 in btc and I will ship them it is a good deal but he simply could spend the 3000 on btc and do zero work.

vs

 hope he gets the gear
 hope it keeps working
 hope that the 4k constant draw does not get found out

I would try to rent the apartment legally if possible and use some of the rent to buy btc each month.

DCA + Hodl

I wish I did this since 2012 I would have millions in profit by now.

As it is I made 300k after 13 years of work which in USA is not much.

I also made my Social Security Check be 1000 a month more for the rest of my life.

So while it is nice to have made some money the op could just take the rent money and buy coin and hodl it.

[FP91G]

or 96 a day pretend it is 100 k-watts a day. easy math.

I have to interrupt this easy math

If we assume that there was an apartment with a pensioner, where the consumption was 200 kilowatts per month maximum.
And now suddenly the energy consumption has increased by 15-20 times. The service company does not want to repair the common house wiring at its own expense, so in a few months this apartment will be inspected by power engineers and the service company that services the apartment building.
In such cases, there are usually more problems than profits

[philipma1957]

or 96 a day pretend it is 100 k-watts a day. easy math.

I have to interrupt this easy math

If we assume that there was an apartment with a pensioner, where the consumption was 200 kilowatts per month maximum.
And now suddenly the energy consumption has increased by 15-20 times. The service company does not want to repair the common house wiring at its own expense, so in a few months this apartment will be inspected by power engineers and the service company that services the apartment building.
In such cases, there are usually more problems than profits

which is why I said he would have to  


"hope that the 4k constant draw does not get found out"

in my post 2 above this one.


and if he just rents the place and buys btc with the rent money he is better off

[FP91G]

or 96 a day pretend it is 100 k-watts a day. easy math.

I have to interrupt this easy math

If we assume that there was an apartment with a pensioner, where the consumption was 200 kilowatts per month maximum.
And now suddenly the energy consumption has increased by 15-20 times. The service company does not want to repair the common house wiring at its own expense, so in a few months this apartment will be inspected by power engineers and the service company that services the apartment building.
In such cases, there are usually more problems than profits

which is why I said he would have to  


"hope that the 4k constant draw does not get found out"

in my post 2 above this one.


and if he just rents the place and buys btc with the rent money he is better off

I do not really understand how to go unnoticed here. You can steal electricity, but each apartment building has a common electricity counter and everything that will be stolen by one tenant will be divided evenly into all owners. These are also watched by responsible residents of the house and management company.
But if they are hoping for luck, now it’s not 2015. Now everyone already knows about mining and there will be checks, and if there are no checks, the service company will repair the wiring at its own expense.

[philipma1957]

or 96 a day pretend it is 100 k-watts a day. easy math.

I have to interrupt this easy math

If we assume that there was an apartment with a pensioner, where the consumption was 200 kilowatts per month maximum.
And now suddenly the energy consumption has increased by 15-20 times. The service company does not want to repair the common house wiring at its own expense, so in a few months this apartment will be inspected by power engineers and the service company that services the apartment building.
In such cases, there are usually more problems than profits

which is why I said he would have to  


"hope that the 4k constant draw does not get found out"

in my post 2 above this one.


and if he just rents the place and buys btc with the rent money he is better off

I do not really understand how to go unnoticed here. You can steal electricity, but each apartment building has a common electricity counter and everything that will be stolen by one tenant will be divided evenly into all owners. These are also watched by responsible residents of the house and management company.
But if they are hoping for luck, now it’s not 2015. Now everyone already knows about mining and there will be checks, and if there are no checks, the service company will repair the wiring at its own expense.

I think new people do not understand a 4 k-watt hourly draw is around
4 x 731=2,924 kwatts a month.

most apartments do not pull 1000 kwatts a month unless it is a hot place with a lot of ac.

[goldkingcoiner]

Consider renting out the apartment; it might be more profitable and it's legal, or sell it.

I agree.

You will have to deal with checks from the government if there are noise complaints or unusual power outages/usages and it might turn into a weird situation because you will not be there to answer them. And you would maybe make more money by renting out the apartment to somebody else. Although that depends on the rent amount in that area and the amount of miners you are planning on running. Calculate the numbers yourself and see which is more profitable. Normally, apartments in Kazachstan might not have the electrical infrastructure to run a large amount of miners.

You might cause power outtages with your mining if you run more than the limit of 5–10 kW. So thats what, 3 s19k pros?

As far as the government goes, Kazachstan has been friendlier to miners in the past but now there are heavier regulations. Importing the miners might also be a bit complicated.

[FP91G]

I think new people do not understand a 4 k-watt hourly draw is around
4 x 731=2,924 kwatts a month.

most apartments do not pull 1000 kwatts a month unless it is a hot place with a lot of ac.

If it is an old house, then 1000 kilowatts per apartment per month is also a lot. Old electrical wiring will not withstand such loads, so there are many nuances for mining in an apartment. A private house is better for this.

[mikeywith]

but each apartment building has a common electricity counter and everything that will be stolen by one tenant will be divided evenly into all owners.

In all the places I lived in or visited it was one of two option.

1- a common power meter for the entire building where they use those large CTs to attach the main cable to the meter/counter. (mostly old buildings)

2- each apartment has it's own power meter.

So can't be both, but either way, if it's a shared meter he could get away with 1 or 2 miners given that it would be divided by a large number (say 12 apartment of 24 or God knows how big the building is) but the other tenants would notice an increase in their bill and would start questioning, especially if they hear the noise, and most importantly, why risk doing something illegal for a tiny bit of unguaranteed profit?

Guys, just buy BTC and maybe a bit of ETH or any other coin you like, store them safely and come back in 5 years time -- you will be so thankful you didn't waste your money on some junk gears.

[FP91G]

but each apartment building has a common electricity counter and everything that will be stolen by one tenant will be divided evenly into all owners.

In all the places I lived in or visited it was one of two option.

1- a common power meter for the entire building where they use those large CTs to attach the main cable to the meter/counter. (mostly old buildings)

2- each apartment has it's own power meter.

So can't be both, but either way, if it's a shared meter he could get away with 1 or 2 miners given that it would be divided by a large number (say 12 apartment of 24 or God knows how big the building is) but the other tenants would notice an increase in their bill and would start questioning, especially if they hear the noise, and most importantly, why risk doing something illegal for a tiny bit of unguaranteed profit?

Guys, just buy BTC and maybe a bit of ETH or any other coin you like, store them safely and come back in 5 years time -- you will be so thankful you didn't waste your money on some junk gears.

Every month, the management company that services the building publishes reports that show the difference between the general meter and the residents' meters. This is called consumption for the needs of the building: lighting, elevator, and so on. If this difference increases significantly without reason, then responsible residents will demand inspections from the company.

In a private house, each owner pays only according to his own meter, and if someone steals, then this is the energy company's problem.

Here, stealing from neighbors is considered a very shitty thing to do, so no one usually does it. Sooner or later, the thief will be found by the residents of the building themselves, and then he will have to change apartments.

I myself mined on the balcony and knew many miners who used an apartment. We always paid the meters and did not steal anything. Houses are different, there can be from 16 to 200 or more apartments, the revenge of neighbors will then be very harsh.

[mikeywith]

Yeah, basically, you are going to be caught eventually. And the last word is key, because the math does not add up. I recall when miners in Malaysia used to mine illegally; the math did add up perfectly for them. S9s were selling for around $50–60 and made $1/day profit if you didn't pay for power. So what they used to do was drop a container in the middle of nowhere and steal power directly from the power lines (with the help of some corrupt employees at the government-owned electric provider). The entire cost of that illegal operation had a 3–4 month ROI, so you only needed to be lucky for 3–4 months. If that passed by and nobody found out about the container, you immediately started netting pure profit. They used to operate tens, probably even hundreds of them. So even if a few containers got caught in the first month or so, many more would make it. It's a hit-and-run operation that paid them handsomely.

With that said, if the Malaysian authorities had laid enough resources to fight them, they could have done it, but it was probably not worth the hassle to go out into the jungle looking for an old container and a 200kV transformer put on a tree.

Bottom line is, illegal mining does exist and it does pay off for some, but it doesn't for most. And one needs to remember that nothing is worth wasting a few years behind bars away from your loved ones -- not even the entire wealth on planet Earth -- let alone a few hundred dollars.

[KiaKia]

This days you will easily find people doing illegal mining, they take stupid risks for stupid returns, like for what? Spent alot of money of Asic miners only to get them seized by the authorities/government.

I have nothing against your plan OP, and that's if you are mining legally, don't even think about it because you will be caught sooner or later, you might then never make your money back again.

It's also best for you to start with small miners first, don't buy 10 miners as a beginner when you haven't even handle one or two, I have my reasons for saying this, you can find it hard to manage at the end of the day.

[FP91G]

Yeah, basically, you are going to be caught eventually. And the last word is key, because the math does not add up. I recall when miners in Malaysia used to mine illegally; the math did add up perfectly for them. S9s were selling for around $50–60 and made $1/day profit if you didn't pay for power. So what they used to do was drop a container in the middle of nowhere and steal power directly from the power lines (with the help of some corrupt employees at the government-owned electric provider). The entire cost of that illegal operation had a 3–4 month ROI, so you only needed to be lucky for 3–4 months. If that passed by and nobody found out about the container, you immediately started netting pure profit. They used to operate tens, probably even hundreds of them. So even if a few containers got caught in the first month or so, many more would make it. It's a hit-and-run operation that paid them handsomely.

With that said, if the Malaysian authorities had laid enough resources to fight them, they could have done it, but it was probably not worth the hassle to go out into the jungle looking for an old container and a 200kV transformer put on a tree.

Bottom line is, illegal mining does exist and it does pay off for some, but it doesn't for most. And one needs to remember that nothing is worth wasting a few years behind bars away from your loved ones -- not even the entire wealth on planet Earth -- let alone a few hundred dollars.

The problem with stealing is that the profit in mining is very low at 100 kilowatts per hour, and the risks are very high. Usually, cheap ASICs are bought for stealing. I am also against this, but people will still take the risk.

[philipma1957]

Yeah, basically, you are going to be caught eventually. And the last word is key, because the math does not add up. I recall when miners in Malaysia used to mine illegally; the math did add up perfectly for them. S9s were selling for around $50–60 and made $1/day profit if you didn't pay for power. So what they used to do was drop a container in the middle of nowhere and steal power directly from the power lines (with the help of some corrupt employees at the government-owned electric provider). The entire cost of that illegal operation had a 3–4 month ROI, so you only needed to be lucky for 3–4 months. If that passed by and nobody found out about the container, you immediately started netting pure profit. They used to operate tens, probably even hundreds of them. So even if a few containers got caught in the first month or so, many more would make it. It's a hit-and-run operation that paid them handsomely.

With that said, if the Malaysian authorities had laid enough resources to fight them, they could have done it, but it was probably not worth the hassle to go out into the jungle looking for an old container and a 200kV transformer put on a tree.

Bottom line is, illegal mining does exist and it does pay off for some, but it doesn't for most. And one needs to remember that nothing is worth wasting a few years behind bars away from your loved ones -- not even the entire wealth on planet Earth -- let alone a few hundred dollars.

The problem with stealing is that the profit in mining is very low at 100 kilowatts per hour, and the risks are very high. Usually, cheap ASICs are bought for stealing. I am also against this, but people will still take the risk.

The key is watts per dollar.

Take the best air miner the s21 xp

3500 watts for 270 th

270 th earns about $16 dollars

So 16x365= 5600 or so

Never mind that the cost is 6500 for the machine

So even if the machine was free [huh?] It would only make 5600 in a year.

For 3.5x24=84 kwatts a day that is 2500 kwatts a month you can't hide that you get caught.

So even if you stole the best machine and have free power it will take over a year for it to earn more than what you can sell it for,on ebay.