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The president of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, signed into law legislation that will limit the energy used by domestic crypto miners, according to a statement posted on the president's website.
The Central Asian country has been struggling to meet electricity demand as bitcoin miners, including illegal operators, flocked to its territory in the past couple of years, putting a strain on the grid infrastructure. Although it still hopes to develop its wider ecosystem, the country is toughening the rules for minors.
The new law allows miners to consume the electricity of the national grid only when there is a surplus, which effectively limits the energy consumption of the industry. The surplus will be allocated to authorized operators, who may bid on the electricity. Miners who use renewable energy, imported electricity or their own off-grid generating capacity will be exempt from this ceiling.
The law requires that minors be authorized by the authorities and introduces minor changes to the industry's tax system.
It will also approve a list of mineral deposits that can be used by companies, and will force miners to sell their cryptotrade mined to crypto exchanges registered with the special economic zone of the country, the international financial centre astana. Miners must sell half of their cryptocurrency to such exchanges by 2024, and 75 percent by 2025.
Kazakhstan is also looking to regulate digital assets exchanges in the wake of the FTX fiasco.
Read more: Kazakhstan Tightens Regulation for Miners, Looks to Develop Broader Crypto Industry
