Tajikistan Left Holding the Bag: $3.52M Bill After Illegal Crypto Miners Flee

Crypto cowboys bolt—leaving taxpayers to foot the power bill.

When the mining rigs go dark, who pays the piper? Tajikistan just found out the hard way.

The Great Mining Exodus

Unauthorized operators pulled the plug—vanishing overnight after sucking dry the grid. Locals now stare at a jaw-dropping tab: $3.52 million in unpaid electricity costs. Guess who’s on the hook?

Energy Hangover

Proof-of-work strikes again. Another case of privatized gains and socialized losses—classic crypto-finance irony. Next time someone preaches ‘decentralization,’ ask them who covers the exit scams.

Tajikistan records $3.52 million in damages from illegal crypto mining

Tajikistan is yet to show a defined stance when it comes to digital assets, but there have been several individuals mining digital assets. Reports claim that authorities report an annual closure of mining farms in private homes and businesses, punishing the people involved.

In addition, the report highlighted that most of them have been mining the assets using unpaid and illegal electricity. Since January, more than 190 criminal cases have been opened related to illegal and unpaid use of electricity.

While some of these cases are not related to mining cryptocurrencies, most of them are miners. The report also claimed that more than 3,988 individuals have been arrested for using illegal electricity, with the total bill owed running into $4.26 million. Mining cryptocurrency is quite tedious, considering one needs access to powerful supercomputers and high-speed internet connections. The process consumes a lot of electricity, which the average private miner can’t ordinarily afford.

Vokhidzoda’s comments come after a similar update in the prosecutor’s office in the Sughd region of Tajikistan, noting that it has opened seven cases against specific individuals, seizing 135 mining devices that were discovered inside residential buildings in the country. The prosecutor added that those involved have caused damages of over $30,000.

Kazakhstan moves to limit the effect of mining on the electricity grid

Tajikistan is not the only Central Asian country battling the rising use of illegal electricity to mine digital assets, with authorities in Kazakhstan recently initiating a crackdown on a scheme to mine digital assets using illegal methods. The crackdown was carried out via a collaboration between the country’s Financial Monitoring Agency and the National Security Committee.

During the operation, they discovered that employees of a local energy company had been providing mining enterprises with more than 50 megawatt-hours (MWh) worth of electricity meant for domestic and commercial use in the past two years. This was equivalent to the energy consumption of a city between 50,000 and 70,000 residents.

Authorities also mentioned that the stolen electricity was worth around $16.5 million, revealing that the organizer of the operation used its proceeds to purchase two apartments and four vehicles, which have now been confiscated after an order by the court. Like Tajikistan, crypto mining isn’t illegal in Kazakhstan, but authorities have been trying to reduce its impact on the national grid.

According to a recent law, mining farms are only allowed to buy 1 MWh or less of energy, permitting them to only patronize the Ministry of Energy. Such regulations are aimed at limiting a sector that was given a boost after China banned crypto mining in 2021, making it a hub for miners due to its cheap costs and inconsistent enforcement. We previously saw mining activities getting a boost in Kazakhstan after China kicked miners out in 2021,” Digiconomist founder Alex de Vries said.

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