Kazakhstan Stands Firm as 3rd Largest Bitcoin Mining Contributor

• Kazakhstan has kept the position for more than a year since February 2021.
• The United States is at the top, leading the Bitcoin mining sector.

Kazakhstan, a nation in Central Asia known for its oil, has been the third-largest Bitcoin mining contributor since overtaking Russia in February 2021 and has kept that position for almost a year.

In January 2022, 13.22% of the global Bitcoin hash rate came from Kazakhstan, placing it third after the United States (38.14%) and China (21.11%). Data from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance suggests that, during the same period, Kazakhstan’s average monthly contribution to the global hash rate was 24.8 exahashes per second (Eh/s). Meanwhile, the United States provided 71 Eh/s and China supplied 39.6 Eh/s.

Aims To Be a Global Leader

Kazakhstan relied heavily on non-renewable energy sources including oil (over 50%), coal (28%), and natural gas (17%) until 2020, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), which receives funding from the European Union. 

It’s true that nations like Malaysia, Germany, and Iran contribute a fair amount to the Bitcoin hash rate, but the top three countries keep squeezing out the others. After the Chinese government outright banned Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, many Chinese miners immediately sought refuge in neighboring Kazakhstan.

After a short mining prohibition, China restarted mining in September 2022, but the United States had taken over as the leading Bitcoin mining center. Local news outlets in Kazakhstan have reported on the country’s plans to regulate cryptocurrency conversion.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev laid forth his plans to make Kazakhstan a global leader in the blockchain industry, cryptocurrency ecosystem, and controlled mining at the international forum Digital Bridge 2022.

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