After causing electricity shortages in China and Kazakhstan, crypto miners are eyeing the US as their next home

[sharon sanders]

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[Emily]

https://news.bitcoin.com/kazakhstan-shuts-down-banks-internet-amid-unrest-that-threatens-bitcoin-mining-hashrate/

Mining by Lubomir Tassev
3 days ago

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Starting the new year at almost 229 exahashes per second (EH/s) on Jan. 1, the mean hashrate of the Bitcoin network fell below 170 earlier this week. It currently stands at 167.86 EH/s, at the time of writing. Members of the crypto community have expressed fears that a further deterioration of the situation in Kazakhstan could affect the indicator even more as miners may begin to relocate to jurisdictions with a more stable political environment and power supply.

While Kazakhstan initially welcomed mining companies and has taken steps to regulate the sector, authorities have blamed the country’s growing problems with electricity shortages on the influx of mining companies. The power deficit exceeded 7% in the first three quarters of 2021 and interruptions in energy supply have already forced some businesses to shut down crypto farms and move equipment to other mining destinations such as the U.S.

[sharon sanders]

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[Emily]

https://www.msn.com/en-xl/money/mark...ers/ar-AASv4GE
Bitcoin network power slumps as Kazakhstan crackdown hits crypto miners
By Tom Wilson
14 hrs ago

LONDON (Reuters) - The global computing power of the bitcoin network has dropped sharply as the shutdown this week of Kazakhstan's internet during a deadly uprising hit the country's fast-growing cryptocurrency mining industry.
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In August last year, the most recent data available, Kazakhstan accounted for 18% of the global "hashrate" - crypto lingo for the amount of computing power being used by computers hooked up to the bitcoin network.

In April, before China's latest clampdown on bitcoin mining, the figure was just 8%...