(Read the full article on total.kz)

The share of China in the world’s bitcoin mining has fallen sharply this year, while Kazakhstan’s share has grown, thus Kazakhstan has become the third-largest player in this industry, according to a study by the University of Cambridge, TOTAL.KZ reported.

A study published by the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance shows that China accounted for less than half (46%) of the energy used to mine Bitcoin in April, down sharply from 75.5% in September 2019.

Over the same period, Kazakhstan’s share in world bitcoin mining increased almost sixfold, from 1.4% to 8.2%. The United States, meanwhile, rose to 16.8% from 4.1% to come in second, while Russia and Iran were fourth and fifth in terms of bitcoin mining, respectively.

Most of the electricity in Kazakhstan comes from coal-fired power plants concentrated in the north of the country near coal-mining regions. Together, they generate over 22 gigawatts of electricity.

The rising price of bitcoin over the years has prompted more and more people to mine cryptocurrency, leading to the creation of an entire industry focused on the production and sale of cryptocurrency hardware. The more people mine bitcoins, the more energy is consumed.