Denis Russinovich is the founder of a leading Bitcoin mining organization in Kazakhstan. He recently said that his company is planning to move elsewhere and leave Kazakhstan. For those acquainted with Kazakhstan’s Bitcoin mining success, this update might come across as shocking. However, the internal atmosphere of the bitcoin mining sector in Kazakhstan is anything but peaceful.
The government of Kazakhstan cannot deal with the rising power demand of the Bitcoin mining industry. Illegal crypto miners add to this woe since their energy consumption is not accounted for or charged. Legal and authorized miners have to bear the brunt of it since the government now has to recover the losses from them.
To escape this situation, many Bitcoin miners are planning to move to other countries. It is important to note that Bitcoin miners moved to Kazakhstan only after China banned cryptocurrency-related activities in the country. If these movements point towards a trend, it’s that Bitcoin mining is not sustainable in the long run. The only country to challenge that premise until now has been Iceland. Even there, grid failure has prompted the government to cut the power supply for crypto miners.
While Proof of Work mining is facing severe limitations around the world, Proof of Stake mining does not seem to pose a problem. Experts are now predicting that Ether will soon take over Bitcoin as the leading cryptocurrency of the world. While that may still be far, the problem of Bitcoin mining is growing faster than ever.
