Kazakhstan launches strategic digital mining rules, tying cheap electricity to crypto reserve contributions

Kazakhstan just turned crypto mining into a national strategy with a very clear deal: we give you cheap power, you give us Bitcoin. On July 22, the country’s government enacted the “Rules for Implementing Strategic Digital Mining,” a policy framework that offers eligible mining operators decade-long electricity quotas at capped tariffs. The catch? Miners must transfer a portion of their mined digital assets to a state-managed crypto reserve each month. How the program actually works Mining companies must own data centers with a minimum capacity of 150 MW to even qualify. The total electricity allocation across the entire program is capped at 300 MW, effectively limiting participation to a small handful of major operators. Once approved by a dedicated commission, miners must finalize agreements with the Astana Hub autonomous cluster fund within five working days. From there, operators submit a portion of their mined assets to Astana Hub by the 25th of the following month. Those assets then flow into the trust management of the National Investment Corporation, a subsidiary of the National Bank of Kazakhstan, and into the country’s National Strategic Crypto Reserve. The bigger picture...