Kazakhstan Taps Waste Gas for Bitcoin Miners

Kazakhstan is developing a plan to power Bitcoin miners using waste gas from oil fields. The initiative aims to connect cryptocurrency mining with oil-field gas that can be difficult to transport or store.

The scale of the available resource is significant, with Kazakhstan flaring approximately 300 million to 340 million cubic meters of associated petroleum gas in 2024. This could produce an estimated 1.2 to 1.3 terawatt-hours of power, according to Daniyar Mubarakov, head of the Blockchain and Digital Mining Association.

The proposed model would allow mining operators to build power-generation facilities at qualifying oil fields and use the associated gas as fuel. This approach would also reduce miners' reliance on the national grid, an important consideration given Kazakhstan's previous experience with electricity shortages linked in part to the rapid expansion of cryptocurrency mining.