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Welcome back to The Mining Pod! Today, Didar Bekbau, CEO of Xive, joins us to analyze Kazakhstan's Bitcoin mining industry. Following China's 2021 mining ban, Kazakhstan briefly captured 15-18% of global hashrate, making it the second largest mining hub in the world, before government restrictions devastated the sector. Didar explains how aging Soviet-era infrastructure couldn't handle the surge, triggering a power price tax hike that drove miners to Russia and the US. He also explores whether Kazakhstan's energy-rich landscape might someday welcome miners back with proper planning and infrastructure investment.
# Notes:
- Kazakhstan peaked at 18% of global hash rate (2021)
- Mining capacity dropped from 1600MW to ~200-400MW
- Electricity tax reached $0.05-0.06 per kWh
- Russia became primary destination for fleeing miners
- Many miners relocated equipment to US and Russia
- Grid infrastructure dated from 1960s-1980s Soviet era
Timestamps:
00:00 Start
02:02 Current Kazakhstan mining overview
04:19 Scope of hashrate
06:14 Why declining hashrate?
08:49 Tax structure
11:58 Reverting the tax structure
13:42 Effects of China mining ban
14:51 Where power generators mining?
17:14 Supply & demand imbalance
21:05 Future for mining in Kazakhstan?
23:59 GDM owning generation
25:07 Russia mining
27:34 Off grid mining in Kazakhstan
29:55 Ukraine war and natural gas
31:52 GDA, grid demand & government
33:12 Kazakhstan mining outlook
