A report by the Kazakh Blockchain & Data Center Industry Association (NABDC) Kazakhstan estimates that cryptocurrency mining could bring the country $ 1.5 billion in revenue over the next five years. Currently, the company’s cryptocurrency mining operations generate around 98 billion tenge ($ 230 million) annually in the country. Alan Dordzhiev, President of NABDC, made the following statement, quoted by the local news agency kapital.kz:

The figure of 98 billion tenge is just the economics of the companies officially involved in mining. If we take into account the “gray” miners, that number can safely be multiplied by 2.

In context, “gray miners” refer to people who conduct their own cryptocurrency mining operations – often with a controversial legal status. The association called for more regulation to combat illegal mining in order to prevent possible electricity bottlenecks. According to Dordzhiev estimates, the gray area miners in the country consume around 500 MW of electricity. Earlier this month, the Kazakh Ministry of Energy proposed a draft regulation to limit the electricity consumption of the cryptocurrency mining industry.

According to data from Cambridge University, Kazakhstan contributes up to 18.10% of the world’s Bitcoin (BTC) mining hash rate – the second largest in the world after China began cracking down on mining.

This puts it just below 35.40% of the US shared hash rate and well above Russia’s 11.23%. Based on figures from GlobalPetrolPrices, the average cost of electricity for commercial use in Kazakhstan is $ 0.054 / kWh, much lower than the global average of $ 0.124 / kWh – due to the country’s huge fossil fuel reserves.