The violent turmoil in Kazakhstan has been triggered by the rise in the price of LPG and petrol, which has consequently had an effect on all consumer prices. But behind this revolt there is a more remote cause: the landing in the former USSR country of tens of thousands of companies that treated cryptocurrencies. The activities in bitcoin are in fact very high energy impact and this may have contributed to the rise in hydrocarbon prices, liberalized by the Kazakh government just from 2022. And problems on the electricity grid were always recorded for the «mining» of cryptocurrencies.
During 2021, some 88,000 companies that undermine and exchange bitcoin and ethereum moved to Kazakhstan, attracted by low energy costs. The relocation caused a rise in energy demand of 8% in a year that has put in crisis the distribution network of the country causing repeated interruptions. The government has tried to intervene by taxing the activities of companies that extract cryptocurrencies, some of which are accused of working clandestinely. Demand for kilowatts, on the other hand, has pushed up hydrocarbon prices, triggering the spiral of violence that erupted at the beginning of the year in the major cities of Kazakhstan.

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