Tajikistan is claiming damages from unlawful Bitcoin mining operations. Based on the nation’s Legal professional Common Khabibullo Vokhidzoda, the nation misplaced greater than $3.52 million to the menace within the first half of 2025.
Talking on the press convention, AG mentioned the damages are associated to the unlawful use of electrical energy by miners, and the state is compensated for losses to power suppliers.
“There are individuals from abroad who import tools for mining firms and illegally mine cryptocurrency,” says Vokhidzoda. He added that round 4 to 5 prison instances are open to people, together with the usage of mining tools.
Tajikistan information $3.52 million in damages from unlawful crypto mining
Tajikistan has but to present an outlined stance relating to digital belongings, however there have been a number of individuals mining digital belongings. The report alleges that authorities report annual closures of personal properties and enterprise mining farms, punishing these concerned.
Moreover, the report highlighted that the majority of them use unpaid and unlawful electrical energy to mine belongings. Since January, greater than 190 prison instances have been opened in reference to unlawful, unpaid use of electrical energy.
A few of these instances don’t have anything to do with cryptocurrency mining, however most of them are miners. The report additionally alleges that greater than 3,988 people have been arrested for unlawful use of electrical energy, bringing the whole invoice to $4.26 million. Mining cryptocurrencies are extraordinarily boring. It is extraordinarily boring contemplating you might want to entry a strong supercomputer and a high-speed web connection. This course of consumes loads of electrical energy, however the common non-public miner often cannot afford it.
Vokhidzoda’s feedback level out that after an analogous replace on the prosecutor’s workplace in Tajikistan’s Sughd space, it has opened seven instances in opposition to sure people, seizing 135 mining tools found inside house building within the nation. Prosecutors added that officers brought about greater than $30,000 in damages.
Kazakhstan strikes to restrict the affect of mining on electrical grids
Tajikistan shouldn’t be the one nation in Central Asia preventing the rise in unlawful electrical energy use to mine digital belongings, and Kazakh authorities just lately started cracking down on schemes that use unlawful strategies to mine digital belongings. The crackdown was carried out in collaboration with the nationwide monetary watchdog and the Nationwide Safety Fee.
Throughout the operation, they found that staff of native power firms have offered mining firms with 50 megawatt hours (MWH) price of electrical energy for home and industrial use over the previous two years. This amounted to city power consumption of between 50,000 and 70,000 residents.
Authorities additionally mentioned the stolen electrical energy was price round $16.5 million, revealing that the operation organizers used the proceeds to purchase two flats and 4 automobiles. Like Tajikistan, crypto mining shouldn’t be unlawful in Kazakhstan, however authorities try to scale back the affect on the nationwide grid.
Based on latest legal guidelines, mining farms are solely allowed to buy power below 1 MWh, and solely patronize the Division of Vitality. Such laws intention to restrict sectors which were boosted after China banned crypto mining in 2021, and their low cost prices and inconsistent enforcement make them a hub for miners. We beforehand noticed mining actions in Kazakhstan after China kicked out miners in 2021,” says Alex De Vries, founding father of Digiconomist.
