The government of Kazakhstan shuts down the Internet and Bitcoin hashrate drops by 13%

Bitcoin hash rate drops by more than 13%

When the state-owned telecommunications company Kazakhtelecom shut down the Internet, network activity immediately plummeted to 2% of the daily high. As mentioned earlier, this move is not without its drawbacks in terms of Bitcoin's hash rate.

At the same time, so far, the impact of the closure is not far from expected. That's because the country accounts for 18% of all hash activity on the Bitcoin network.

The root cause of the protest

The continued protests are due to the cancellation of subsidies for liquefied petroleum gas used in automobile fuels by the Kazakhstan government in accordance with current market conditions. The removal of subsidies caused gasoline prices to double overnight, sparking violent protests across the country.

As of press time, the Internet in Kazakhstan is still paralyzed, and there is no official news about when the Internet will become active again.

At the same time, due to low energy prices, Kazakhstan has been the main attraction for Bitcoin miners in recent years. According to global gasoline prices, the cost of electricity in Kazakhstan is only $0.055 per kilowatt-hour on average for businesses, and a very low percentage of $0.12 per kilowatt-hour is paid by US businesses.