In Shymkent, two individuals who organised an illegal cryptocurrency mining farm have been convicted.
According to the press service of the Agency for Financial Monitoring (AFM), the defendants organised a mining farm between April 2023 and February 2024 and generated income of more than 100 million tenge.
The court sentenced the accomplices to various terms: one to 2 years' imprisonment, the other to 2.5 years of restricted freedom.
Property worth almost 370 million tenge was confiscated from the convicts, including ASIC miners (equipment for mining bitcoins) and illegally obtained digital assets.
It is noted that since the beginning of the year, AFM staff have identified 4 cases of illegal mining farms being organised across the country, with criminal proceeds of nearly 400 million tenge.
Recall that at the beginning of September, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stated the need to "deal with" entrepreneurs who engage in cryptocurrency mining, consume large amounts of electricity to the detriment of the economy, and do not pay taxes in the required amount.
And just 10 days after the President's address, the AFM reported that it had stopped the activities of illegal miners in the Kostanay region. The perpetrators consumed an amount of electricity equivalent to the needs of 3 district centres, 27 secondary schools, or 13 hospitals, placing a colossal strain on the local power grids.
Later, AFM staff concluded an investigation into the organisation of a mining farm in Astana disguised as an engine processing centre. It was reported that the enterprise consumed energy comparable to the monthly needs of one residential area.