Electricity in Exchange for Crypto: Kazakhstan’s New Mining Strategy Explained

[Oshosondy]

You know that Kazakhstan is one of the countries that have high numbers of bitcoin miners, the country is the fourth to fifth largest after United States, Russian and China.

The Kazakhstan government will offer large crypto mining companies electricity at capped rates for ten years in exchange for transferring part of their mined assets to the state at no cost. It means crypto miners will receive electricity from the country power plant directly, but the miners will in return be sending part of their mined coins to the Kazakhstan national crypto reserve.

If you want to understand it more, read it on https://en.orda.kz/electricity-in-exchange-for-crypto-kazakhstans-new-mining-strategy-explained-10980/

Gradually more countries will have bitcoin reserves.

Hold your bitcoin.

[She shining]

I prefer this method to that of the ones implemented by the United States. This shows that they giving something atleast to gain something. Similar to buying the future at an affordable rate while benefiting the seller.

[BIT-BENDER]

Expenses for electricity, power transmission, balancing services and use of the national grid will first be deducted from the value of the mined assets. The state will then receive 10% of the remaining amount.

This is a quote form your source https://en.orda.kz/electricity-in-exchange-for-crypto-kazakhstans-new-mining-strategy-explained-10980/ and from the look of things it's more like a loan and the Kazakhstani government will make interest from it.

The expenses the government are helping the miners covers is not a write of so basically this is to encourage more people who are being discouraged by high electricity to at least start but there would be repayment for the assistance rendered by the government.

For me if a miner already have the capital to cover their electricity by themselves they don't need to take up this offer.

[Zlantann]

Expenses for electricity, power transmission, balancing services and use of the national grid will first be deducted from the value of the mined assets. The state will then receive 10% of the remaining amount.

This is a quote form your source https://en.orda.kz/electricity-in-exchange-for-crypto-kazakhstans-new-mining-strategy-explained-10980/ and from the look of things it's more like a loan and the Kazakhstani government will make interest from it.

It looks like a good deal. But miners would have to consider the cost of other expenses before they accept the deal. When other countries are making it difficult for miners to succeed in their location, Kazakhstan is attracting more miners to the country.

I am not surprised by this mining deal because the country has shown much interest in cryptocurrencies. Kazakhstan is the 8th largest government Bitcoin reserve, with an estimated holding of 3,544 BTC. The National Bank of Kazakhstan governor Timur Suleimanov once said that the country is considering raising $350 million from its gold and foreign exchange reserves and investing it in cryptocurrency-related assets

[Wiwo]

The trend is shifting. In the past, government interest in bitcoin reserves was low and unnoticeable, but now bitcoin reserves for governments are becoming more noticeable.

Kazakhstan government willing to supply bitcoin minners electricity of up to 10 years, sound as a subsidy for bitcoin minnersto expand mining activities and also encourage new minners to venture into mining since electricity is covered, however we have to point out a few numbers of things that may not be so favorable to the manners on the long term, e.g how much is the capped manners electricity charged, lastly Kazakhstan is known to face electricity crisis and disruption, what of the government supply can't meet up with the bitcoin minners electricity demand for that said period of time?

[MusaMohamed]

You know that Kazakhstan is one of the countries that have high numbers of bitcoin miners, the country is the fourth to fifth largest after United States, Russian and China.

The Kazakhstan government will offer large crypto mining companies electricity at capped rates for ten years in exchange for transferring part of their mined assets to the state at no cost. It means crypto miners will receive electricity from the country power plant directly, but the miners will in return be sending part of their mined coins to the Kazakhstan national crypto reserve.

Kazakhstan Bitcoin mining activities have grown a lot since 2020 as a result of China mining crack down. The Bitcoin mining map shows that information with an increase from 11.9% in May 2021 to 24.8% in January 2022 in hashrate share.
https://ccaf.io/cbnsi/cbeci/mining_map

More latest information from some reports.
Q3 2026: Bitcoin mining, Global hashrate heatmap.
Global Bitcoin hashrate July 2026.

It's a little bit surprise with me, and honestly I did not know that before searching for information to make this reply, Kazakhstan already drops out of top 10. You can see this in both above reports, Norway takes over a position of Kazakhstan in top 10, I am not sure about reasons but it seems to be regulatory pressure.

Concentration is steady (~66% top 3) but the composition is churning. Kazakhstan dropped out of the top 10 for the first time in this series; Norway is in.

Kazakhstan fell out of the top 10 for the first time in years (down to #11 at ~15 EH/s)

Comparing Q3 2026 (June) to Q2 2026 (March)
Kazakhstan: -3 EH/s (~-17%) — 18 → 15 EH/s

Biggest YoY decliners:
Kazakhstan: -29% — 21 → 15 EH/s

[Jaycoinz]

.

For me, if a miner already has the capital to cover their electricity by themselves, they don't need to take up this offer.

I think it's a good deal for the miners because the electricity power supply is capped at 10 years, it's a big advantage if the power supply will steadily meet the activities of the miners without interruptions.

The reason why I said the miners will be at an advantage is because of the bear season, they will enjoyed fix low rate of electricity and also percentage that  will be sent to the government remains 10% of their earnings from mining, now picture a situation where miner profits are affected by the market, they won't need to be bother of covering for high cost of electricity to run their gig since the government already covers that.

[The Cryptovator]

The Kazakhstan government will offer large crypto mining companies electricity at capped rates for ten years in exchange for transferring part of their mined assets to the state at no cost. It means crypto miners will receive electricity from the country power plant directly, but the miners will in return be sending part of their mined coins to the Kazakhstan national crypto reserve.

I was confused about returning mined Bitcoin to the government, but after reading the links you provided, I realized they are asking for part of the mined Bitcoin. So I think the offer isn't bad; miners would use power directly from the government without any restrictions. But instead of paying bills, they are asking for a part of mined Bitcoin in return. I think it's fair to ask for something similar to the electricity bill from the mined Bitcoin, not much extra from their power consumed.

However, I believe miners will respond to their offers. So without hassle they could mine Bitcoin. It's positive movement so far that governments are seriously thinking of reserving Bitcoin. It doesn't matter if it's seized, mined, or purchased. Official reserves will make Bitcoin stronger.

[BIT-BENDER]

Expenses for electricity, power transmission, balancing services and use of the national grid will first be deducted from the value of the mined assets. The state will then receive 10% of the remaining amount.

This is a quote form your source https://en.orda.kz/electricity-in-exchange-for-crypto-kazakhstans-new-mining-strategy-explained-10980/ and from the look of things it's more like a loan and the Kazakhstani government will make interest from it.

It looks like a good deal. But miners would have to consider the cost of other expenses before they accept the deal. When other countries are making it difficult for miners to succeed in their location, Kazakhstan is attracting more miners to the country.

I am not surprised by this mining deal because the country has shown much interest in cryptocurrencies. Kazakhstan is the 8th largest government Bitcoin reserve, with an estimated holding of 3,544 BTC. The National Bank of Kazakhstan governor Timur Suleimanov once said that the country is considering raising $350 million from its gold and foreign exchange reserves and investing it in cryptocurrency-related assets

Like the OP said Kazakhstan is a country that has great interest in Bitcoin for me any country who is seeking to explore digital currency to create a productive economical opportunity for themselves has to be interested in Bitcoin.
Now to your reply on my comment, I did not say it isn't a good deal for me it is a good deal and also one that will encourage Bitcoin enthusiast with not enough capital to explore this chance offered to them by their government but they should be aware it comes with paybacks, in my comment I quoted what the payback the government would be expecting looks like
This isn't a good deal for very established miners who have already built a working system for themselves, for me if you can then you should not take this sort of glorified loans from government.

[Upgrade00]

Can someone explain if there is difficulty in accessing electricity in Kazakhstan? I don't understand why they will give up 10% of their profits for electricity they will still be paying for. And that percentage is coming off after they have paid for electricity and other expenses. I'm thinking there has to be an obvious benefit they are getting which I'm missing.

[Alvin_talk]

I don't celebrate government policies regarding bitcoin and its mining too early considering the fact that it could be later ammended or even scrapped by the next or same administration that initiated it,  thereby leaving companies and miners that invested to battle with their new policies and regulation risks. For example, China was once the largest bitcoin mining hub in the world but as we speak, policies and regulations in China has made mining and crypto activities limited, this was same government that once embraced crypto related activities, what can I say, let's enjoy it while it lasts.

For me if a miner already have the capital to cover their electricity by themselves they don't need to take up this offer.

No. It is still a good option even for miners with sufficient capital, it is an opportunity for miners to expand their equipment while relying on the government to supply them with the electricity needed for it. Think about it this way; the capital they would have used for electricity supply, they divert it to acquiring more ASICs, cooling infrastructure and related materials thereby increasing their hashrate and overall profit.

[hd49728]

Can someone explain if there is difficulty in accessing electricity in Kazakhstan? I don't understand why they will give up 10% of their profits for electricity they will still be paying for. And that percentage is coming off after they have paid for electricity and other expenses. I'm thinking there has to be an obvious benefit they are getting which I'm missing.

I am not sure what is electricity deficit they have been facing with by reading this statement.
Electricity Generation in Kazakhstan for the First Half of the Year 2026

A separate area is the development of electric power. In six months, 63.4 billion kWh of electricity was generated in the country, which is 101.9% of the actual figure for 2025. The forecast for the entire 2026 is 126.5 billion kWh. Yerlan Akkenzhenov emphasized that to reduce the electricity deficit this year, it is planned to commission about 2.66 GW of energy capacities.

Likely it is not enough for their electricity demand. Their demand is doubled than the above figure of 63.4 billion kWh.
https://qazinform.com/news/kazakhstan-sees-record-electricity-consumption-and-production-gap-in-years-9250f8

The report said last year’s electricity demand grew to 120.4 billion kWh, with production at 117.9 billion kWh

Possibly this one.
Kazakhstan Says It Will End Russian Electricity Imports by 2027.

They no longer want to import electricity too much and be dependent on it, so it's the reason to tighten regulations against Bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining.

[Upgrade00]

They no longer want to import electricity too much and be dependent on it, so it's the reason to tighten regulations against Bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining.

But they will still have to offer the miners a deal that benefits them. They have been effectively mining before this policy and they still have the option of going for renewable sources of electricity compensate for any lacks.

If you want 10% of their profits monthly you'll have to be paying back that value in your electricity offer.

[Livingleged]

The reason why I said the miners will be at an advantage is because of the bear season, they will enjoyed fix low rate of electricity and also percentage that  will be sent to the government remains 10% of their earnings from mining, now picture a situation where miner profits are affected by the market, they won't need to be bother of covering for high cost of electricity to run their gig since the government already covers that.

I understand your point which I should have agreed but why I also think it will not make much difference whether it’s a bear season or bull season is because part of the profits that will be sent to the government is also in percentage (%) of what is being minned. So basically what ever you mine 10% of it will be sent to the government, The program is to encourage mining but I don’t think miners will make that much profit from it.

The expenses the government are helping the miners covers is not a write of so basically this is to encourage more people who are being discouraged by high electricity to at least start but there would be repayment for the assistance rendered by the government.

Sure the expenses of the electricity supply isn’t free as it’s just like minner will be trading parts of what they are able to mine for the electricity they are being provided with. Why I also think it make sense is the duration of 10years scheme, mostly miners are being discouraged by the total cost of electricity mining consumes this will definitely encourage more people to mine.

For me if a miner already have the capital to cover their electricity by themselves they don't need to take up this offer.

I absolutely agree with this and I think it is also stated that program is targeting  small number of large  companies capable of making substantial infrastructure investments. However it doesn’t stop them from continuing with their conventional mining alongside.

[Patikno]

You know that Kazakhstan is one of the countries that have high numbers of bitcoin miners, the country is the fourth to fifth largest after United States, Russian and China.

The Kazakhstan government will offer large crypto mining companies electricity at capped rates for ten years in exchange for transferring part of their mined assets to the state at no cost. It means crypto miners will receive electricity from the country power plant directly, but the miners will in return be sending part of their mined coins to the Kazakhstan national crypto reserve.

If you want to understand it more, read it on https://en.orda.kz/electricity-in-exchange-for-crypto-kazakhstans-new-mining-strategy-explained-10980/

Gradually more countries will have bitcoin reserves.

Hold your bitcoin.

Wow, Kazakhstan's decision is very wise in providing convenience for miners in the country. The country doesn't burden miners, as it only receives 10% of the profits. I think this is very fair, as the miners won't feel disadvantaged, especially since they also receive a quota of electricity provided. Furthermore, Kazakhstan's goal is to use this as a way to increase their strategic crypto reserve. This decision is very friendly to crypto, and very benificial for the both parties. Because, they care about the mutual benefits, both for the miners, and for the country.

Well, I think Kazakhstan's strategy should serve as a benchmark for other countries; that want to advance their countries through this very friendly approach.

Maybe, there will be other countries that follow Kazakhstan's footsteps, and I think this is good news for crypto, especially for Bitcoin. The future of Bitcoin is getting brighter every day, and I am sure the fudders (or people who ignore Bitcoin) will regret it more in the end.

[Compromise me]

I don't celebrate government policies regarding bitcoin and its mining too early considering the fact that it could be later ammended or even scrapped by the next or same administration that initiated it,  thereby leaving companies and miners that invested to battle with their new policies and regulation risks. For example, China was once the largest bitcoin mining hub in the world but as we speak, policies and regulations in China has made mining and crypto activities limited, this was same government that once embraced crypto related activities, what can I say, let's enjoy it while it lasts.

When the government gets its benefit, it will continue to run for a long time, so we should not panic, but as long as the government is working on it, we should take advantage of it. The government's job is to make things easier for itself, not for the people, that's why we have seen many such problems. Can you give an example besides this, because China used to keep the dollar in reserve earlier and later it sold all the reserves and bought gold. Just so that it would not fall under the pressure of America and that's why it has now stopped recognizing Bitcoin so that no country can impose its rule on it. That's why it has nothing to do with being happy or not happy, but with making profit, so wherever work is being done regarding crypto or Bitcoin, it should be made profit from it. Those who have invested a lot think of big profits, so they get stuck quickly and also make big profits.

[Alvin_talk]

Can you give an example besides this, because China used to keep the dollar in reserve earlier and later it sold all the reserves and bought gold. Just so that it would not fall under the pressure of America and that's why it has now stopped recognizing Bitcoin so that no country can impose its rule on it.

Sure, I'll give you another example. Prior to 2022, Kosovo was a country whose policies and regulations allowed and encouraged crypto related activities and mining. Because of the low cost of electricity then, it became a lucrative location for miners, however, everything changed it 2022 due to the high rise of energy price after domestic coal-fired plants suffered outages, to manage the situation, the government authorities had to put a complete ban on crypto mining https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59879760
These are the kind of unforseen circumstances I am referring to, so you can see its too early to celebrate. Today mining it Kosovo is completely illegal.

[Bitcoin-Forever]

The Kazakhstan government will offer large crypto mining companies electricity at capped rates for ten years in exchange for transferring part of their mined assets to the state at no cost. It means crypto miners will receive electricity from the country power plant directly, but the miners will in return be sending part of their mined coins to the Kazakhstan national crypto reserve.

This shows that the country is being considerate of miners' challenges when it comes to electricity supply, and they're trying to fix the problem, and also at the same time indirectly investing in Bitcoin as they have it in their reserve.

But I hope there will be clear terms to all this because it's a long-term deal, and both sides have to maintain their integrity and the terms of service they are going to sign under this agreement; other countries could as well learn something from such an act.

[Cryptomultiplier]

The Kazakhstan government will offer large crypto mining companies electricity at capped rates for ten years in exchange for transferring part of their mined assets to the state at no cost. It means crypto miners will receive electricity from the country power plant directly, but the miners will in return be sending part of their mined coins to the Kazakhstan national crypto reserve.

This shows that the country is being considerate of miners' challenges when it comes to electricity supply, and they're trying to fix the problem, and also at the same time indirectly investing in Bitcoin as they have it in their reserve.

But I hope there will be clear terms to all this because it's a long-term deal, and both sides have to maintain their integrity and the terms of service they are going to sign under this agreement; other countries could as well learn something from such an act.

At least the Kazakhstan government isn't one that gets to confiscate cryptocurrency from individuals just to fill up her reserves, but actually do business by providing what miners need in exchange for crypto currencies. It's a better deal if you ask me because most countries won't do so much as to this way because they want to profit from both sides just to have crypto currency reserves like the U.S.

[Zoomic]

From what I understood in the article of the link you attached, I'll say this is more of a partnership move from the government than outright taxation.

 The Kazakhstani government simply want to align incentives instead of increasing what the miners in the country are currently paying for electricity.

I think it'll be beneficial to both the government and the miners if miners will get predictable electricity costs while the government gradually builds a Bitcoin reserve.

That said, I'm a bit sceptical that the agreement when reached will remain attractive between both parties in the whole 10 years since we all know that energy costs and Bitcoin price can significantly change within that period.