Kazakhstan Amends Registration Rules for Cryptocurrency Miners

The government of Kazakhstan has revised the registration requirements for persons and companies involved in crypto mining. The updated regulations come amid an ongoing clampdown on the industry in the Central Asian nation, where the influx of miners has been blamed for persisting electricity shortages.

Crypto Miners to File Quarterly Reports With Kazakhstan Authorities

An order issued by Kazakhstan’s minister of digital development, Bagdat Musin, has expanded the registration and reporting requirements for those minting digital coins. The document obliges individual entrepreneurs and legal entities that intend to mine crypto to notify regulators at least 30 days before commencing activities. The same applies to firms and persons providing services to such enterprises.

Cryptocurrency miners are now asked to submit certain data including the name, registration number, and contact information of their companies, as well as their bank details and IP addresses. They will have to also specify the energy needs of their mining facilities, the planned investments, and the number of employees.

Among the required documents are copies of customs declarations or other proof of ownership of mining equipment, documents confirming that the persons involved in the undertaking are residents of Kazakhstan, information indicating the location of the mining farm in the country, and a technical description of how the hardware will be connected to the power grid.

Miners that have already started operations, and their providers of maintenance services, are obliged to file similar reports with the government for every quarter. Furthermore, mining entities that pull out of business will have to notify the state within ten days after terminating their activities.

The new reporting requirements come as the authorities in Nur-Sultan are clamping down on the crypto mining industry, a year after Kazakhstan became a magnet for miners amid China’s offensive against the sector. The government has been targeting illegal miners but even authorized bitcoin farms have suffered from power cuts caused by the growing electricity deficit.

The shortages have already forced some companies to leave the country while dozens of mining facilities have been shut down this year, and many of them remain unplugged. Auditors have also been trying to close tax loopholes exploited by some miners, while authorities prepare to increase the tax burden for those that remain in Kazakhstan, and intend to tie the levy to the value of the minted digital currency.

Do you expect more crypto miners to leave Kazakhstan following the adoption of the stricter registration and reporting rules? Tell us in the comments section below.

Lubomir Tassev

Lubomir Tassev is a journalist from tech-savvy Eastern Europe who likes Hitchens’s quote: “Being a writer is what I am, rather than what I do.” Besides crypto, blockchain and fintech, international politics and economics are two other sources of inspiration.

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