Kazakh authorities consider quadrupling electricity tax for crypto miners

On February 8, according to local news outlet Kazinform, Kazakh authorities are considering raising the electricity tax for cryptocurrency mining companies from 1 tenge to 5 tenge ($0.0023 to $0.012), a four-fold increase. Marat Sultangaziev, Kazakhstan’s first deputy finance minister, also suggested requiring crypto miners to pay monthly taxes on equipment regardless of whether they receive block rewards or not. In addition, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Digital Development Bagdat Musin attacked unregistered “grey” mining companies consuming 1 gigawatt of electricity in the country in a personal Facebook post.