Share this article
Kazakh Authorities Arrest 23 Suspected of Forcing IT Professional to Run an Illegal Crypto Mine: Report
The country is still grappling with the illegal crypto mining industry.
Updated May 11, 2023, 4:58 p.m. Published Aug 9, 2022, 10:43 a.m.
Authorities in Kazakhstan arrested 23 people suspected of forcing an IT professional to run an illegal crypto mine, according to a report on an information platform supervised by the Ministry of the Interior.
- During searches of illegal mining farms, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Kazakhstan's national security service found seven people thought to be members of the gang and a 36-year-old IT professional who was forced to organize the work of the mining farms, the report said.
- Kazakhstan has been trying to root out illicit crypto mining, which draws a lot of electricity from its crumbling grid, while coming up with regulations and taxation to organize the legal industry.
- Another three suspected gang members were arrested as authorities searched for illegally stored weapons, the report said.
- The group was made up of former convicts and "criminally oriented persons" with a history of violent crimes, including debt collection and extortion, according to the report.
- It was making $300,000-$500,000 a month from illicit crypto mining in the Talgar district of the Almaty region, the report said.
- Authorities also seized 6,000 items of crypto mining equipment, worth about $7 million, along with an AK-47 assault rifle, ammunition and pistols.
UPDATE (Aug. 9, 2022, 11:13 UTC): Adds "Report" at end of headline.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
U.S. Senate's Warren asks for Trump-tied crypto probe as market structure bill drags
The influential Democrat is the most vocal critic of the crypto legislation, and she continues to throw rhetorical sand in the gears of the negotiation.
What to know:
- U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, is calling for a probe into DeFi platforms, especially on their relationship with the business interests of President Donald Trump.
- Warren's pushback comes as the Senate is still negotiating the details of a crypto market structure bill, a process that's now drifted into January.
Top Stories
