Last Updated on May 8, 2023 by Bitfinsider

According to local media sources, the government of Kazakhstan received 3.07 billion tenges (about $7 million) in tax payments from crypto mining businesses in 2022, following the introduction of a revised regulation controlling the fiscal burden of mining cryptocurrency.

According to preliminary government figures for 2023, mining fees received by April 27 totaled 240 million tenges, or more over $541,000 at the time of writing. The fees paid in the first quarter of 2022 totaled 652 million tenge (about $1.5 million).

Kazakhstan is one of the world’s top Bitcoin mining locations. According to data from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, the Central Asian country generated 13.22% of the overall Bitcoin hash rate in January 2022, trailing only the United States (37.84%) and China (21.11%).

On January 1, 2022, the country imposed taxes on digital mining depending on electricity use by mining businesses. The regulation went into effect in response to growing national dissatisfaction with crypto miners’ underutilized use of the national power infrastructure. The modified legislation was also viewed as a legal road for further adoption in the face of tighter rules around the world.

During the 2021 bull market, a surge of multinational mining operators relocated to Kazakhstan, complicating already tense relations between the country and miners. According to some estimates, more than 87,849 rigs were delivered to the territory by November 2021 as a result of China’s mining crackdown.

The government recently announced plans to implement new crypto legislation in order to combat tax evasion and illegal commercial activity. One plan would require government clearance for secured digital asset issuers, while another would compel miners to sell at least 75% of their cryptocurrency earnings through regulated exchanges. The change is intended to decrease tax avoidance.