Kazakhstan's ongoing crackdown on cryptocurrency mining operations has forced another 106 miners to stop operations, according to a government statement.
Following investigations by the country's financial monitoring agency and other state bodies, 55 of the mines closed voluntarily and 51 were forced to shutdown their operations, the statement said. The 51 are suspected of tax and customs evasion and placing equipment in special economic zones without permission, according to the government.
The inspections revealed that some notable political and business figures were involved in cryptocurrency mining in Kazakhstan. According to the statement they included Bolat Nazarbayev, the brother of former President Nursultan Nazarbayev; Alexander Klebanov, the chairman of Central Asian Electric Power Corp., which provides electricity to more than two million people; and Kairat Itegmenov, listed by Forbes magazine as one of Kazakhstan's richest people.
The central Asian country has been dealing with severe electricity shortages since last autumn, due in part to an influx of cryptocurrency miners from China, but also because of infrastructure failures.
The Kazakhstan government says it has cracked down on illegal mines to deal with the persistent energy problems.
