When Bitcoin’s network hash rate hit 1.041 billion terahashes per second in September 2025, it wasn’t just a record-it was proof that the network is getting stronger, even as mining shifts across continents. Behind that number is a quiet but massive relocation: miners are leaving Kazakhstan in droves. Not because the country ran out of power, but because it started running out of stability.
Kazakhstan didn’t become a Bitcoin mining giant by accident. After the Soviet Union collapsed, the country inherited vast coal reserves and unused power plants. By 2021, it had climbed to second place in global Bitcoin hash rate, behind only China. Mines in Ekibastuz, powered by cheap coal, ran nonstop. But that boom came with a hidden cost.
When Mining Broke the Grid
In 2021, Bitcoin mining consumed nearly 7% of Kazakhstan’s total electricity. That might sound small, but for a country with aging infrastructure and millions of households still dealing with winter blackouts, it was unsustainable. When miners started pulling more power than the grid could handle, homes froze. Hospitals lost backup power. Protests erupted. The government didn’t shut down mining overnight-it cut the plug. Literally. Miners were disconnected from the national grid. Some lost machines. Others lost months of revenue.
That moment changed everything. Miners realized: cheap energy doesn’t mean safe mining. If your power can be turned off because of a protest, you’re not building a business-you’re gambling.
The Exodus Begins
The real turning point came in July 2025, when Canaan, one of the world’s largest Bitcoin mining hardware manufacturers, announced it was pulling out of Kazakhstan. The numbers tell the story: in May 2025, Canaan was running 6.67 EH/s in Kazakhstan. By July, that had dropped to 5.56 EH/s. They didn’t just downgrade-they moved. Half of those machines were relocated to the U.S., the other half to Canada. Canaan mined 89 BTC in July 2025, down from previous months, not because Bitcoin got harder to mine, but because they lost over 1 EH/s of computing power overnight.
This wasn’t an isolated move. Other operators quietly followed. Some sold their rigs. Others leased space in Texas, Georgia, and Finland. The trend wasn’t news. It was inevitable.
Where Are They Going?
The U.S. is now the undisputed leader in Bitcoin mining, holding 35.4% of the global hash rate. Texas alone has more mining power than the entire country of Russia. Why? Reliable grids. Clear regulations. Tax incentives. Power contracts that last five years, not five weeks.
Canada isn’t far behind at 9.6%. Its hydroelectric dams provide clean, stable power. Germany and Finland are attracting miners with renewable energy credits and low carbon taxes. Even Iran, despite sanctions, is holding steady at 2.3% because it has subsidized electricity and a government that doesn’t blink when miners show up.
Kazakhstan’s 14.8% share in 2024 still makes it a major player-but it’s shrinking. The gap between the U.S. and Kazakhstan is wider now than ever. In 2021, Kazakhstan was almost tied with China. Now, it’s trailing behind Canada, and the U.S. is pulling away.
What Kazakhstan Is Trying to Do
The government didn’t give up. In early 2025, they launched a 70/30 energy plan: 70% of new thermal power plant output goes to the national grid. Only 30% is left for crypto mining. It sounds fair-but miners say it’s too little, too late. They’re still waiting for long-term contracts, not temporary quotas.
Meanwhile, banks blocked over 15,800 unauthorized crypto transactions in Q1 2025, worth $3.07 million. That’s not just enforcement-it’s distrust. Miners don’t need more rules. They need predictability. Can they count on power next winter? Will their machines be seized? Will taxes change overnight? No one can answer.
The Bigger Picture: Hash Rate Isn’t Just About Money
Bitcoin’s security doesn’t come from code. It comes from machines. The more computing power spread across the world, the harder it is to attack. When miners leave Kazakhstan, the network doesn’t weaken-it redistributes. The hash rate keeps rising because new miners are stepping in, not because old ones are staying.
Experts call this migration “geopolitical rebalancing.” It’s not a collapse. It’s evolution. Miners are choosing locations based on risk, not just cost. The U.S. isn’t cheaper than Kazakhstan. But it’s safer. And for institutional investors, safety matters more than savings.
What This Means for Bitcoin
Every time a miner moves, the network gets more resilient. The hash rate spike in September 2025 wasn’t a fluke. It was the result of thousands of machines being reinstalled, recalibrated, and reconnected-not in one country, but across five. The network doesn’t care where the power comes from. It only cares that it keeps running.
Bitcoin’s price doesn’t always jump when hash rate rises-but it usually does, months later. That’s because a growing hash rate signals long-term confidence. Investors see it: miners are betting on Bitcoin’s future. And if they’re willing to move halfway across the world to keep mining, that’s not panic. That’s conviction.
Is Kazakhstan Still a Viable Option?
Yes-but only for a specific kind of miner. If you’re a small operator with a few hundred machines, and you’re okay with intermittent outages and regulatory uncertainty, maybe. But if you’re running a professional mining farm with thousands of ASICs? No. The risk isn’t worth the savings.
Kazakhstan still has cheap coal. It still has space. But it doesn’t have the reliability that modern mining demands. Miners aren’t leaving because they hate Kazakhstan. They’re leaving because they love Bitcoin enough to walk away from a bargain.
What’s Next?
The migration isn’t over. More miners will leave in 2026. Some will come back-if Kazakhstan delivers real energy contracts and stable power. But for now, the trend is clear: the future of Bitcoin mining isn’t in places with cheap electricity. It’s in places with predictable electricity.
The global hash rate keeps climbing. The network gets stronger. And Bitcoin? It just keeps going.
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