Kyrgyzstan Shuts Down All Mining Farms Due to Power Shortages
Date: 2025-11-13 Author: Henry Casey Categories: IN WORLD
On November 12, Kyrgyzstan decided to shut down all mining farms nationwide. Energy Minister Taalaibek Ibraev told 24.kg that the shutdown was due to power supply issues. He stated that this measure was necessary to stabilize the power grid and prevent equipment overload.
Ibraev emphasized that the situation is not a crisis, but the country's power grid is operating at capacity. The main source of electricity, the Toktogul Reservoir, has significantly decreased in water this year: the water level has dropped by almost two billion cubic meters compared to last year.
The minister noted that the government is forced to take steps to conserve resources in order to maintain sufficient water supplies until the end of the heating season. Specifically, during peak hours, the load on the power grid is being reduced from 5 kW to 3 kW. "This is stipulated in the contracts and helps protect the equipment that supplies the population with energy. Light and heat will remain in homes, but savings will be required. This is normal practice," Ibraev clarified.
Interestingly, the announcement of the shutdown of mining farms coincided with the announcement of the launch of a new stablecoin in Kyrgyzstan called USDKG.
The country's Ministry of Finance stated that the issuance amounted to $50.4 million, with gold held under state control as collateral. The new asset is pegged to the US dollar and, according to the ministry, represents an example of a "transparent and reliable financial instrument, fully backed by real assets."
The issuance is being carried out by OJSC "Issuer of Virtual Assets," whose sole shareholder is the Ministry of Finance. In the coming days, the token is planned to be listed on both centralized and decentralized exchanges. The press release emphasized that the USDKG project is not connected to other initiatives, including the development of the national stablecoin KGST or the digital som.
As a reminder, earlier in September, the Kyrgyz parliament passed the law "On Virtual Assets" in three readings. This document legalizes cryptocurrency activities, regulates mining, and even permits the creation of a Bitcoin reserve.
Thus, the country's authorities are, on the one hand, restricting energy-intensive crypto projects to conserve electricity, while on the other, continuing to develop their own digital financial instruments, striving for transparency and state support for crypto initiatives.
