Ekonomia

Why are Kazakhstan's political unrest affecting the price of Bitcoin?

Why are Kazakhstan's political unrest affecting the price of Bitcoin?

The price of Bitcoin fell today to the lowest levels not seen since September, as Kazakhstan, the second largest country for Bitcoin mines, lost internet access amid political turmoil over energy prices.

The world's largest cryptocurrency fell as much as 8% to less than 36,000 euros after investors sold their cryptocurrencies, in part because of the crisis in Kazakhstan, but also because of minutes released by the US Federal Reserve showing that they would tighten monetary policy.

Cyber ​​security watchdog Netblocks said the internet outage in Kazakhstan has affected on a nationwide scale since this morning.

The ongoing disruptions come amid widespread protests against the sudden rise in energy prices that began over the weekend in the western city of Zhanaozen.

The Central Asian nation has been the second largest Bitcoin 'mining home' after the United States. This is after Kazakhstan's neighbor, China, ousted cryptocurrency miners in May last year due to the high energy consumption of Bitcoin mines.

Mining is the place that enables the process of creating new currencies and maintaining a register of transactions.

Bitcoin uses a system that requires a global computer network to operate at the same time as a transaction. This is why it uses so much power, as it was created to encourage increased computer effort.

The Kazakh government has been trying to tighten mining rules in recent months in a bid to decarbonize the economy. The country recently implemented a law to impose additional taxes on crypto mines that will take effect this year.

In a Twitter post, Kazakh miner Didar Bekbau claimed: "Yes, there is no internet, so there are no mines ... Hopefully next week everything will be fine."