Coal-powered bitcoin mining soars in Kazakhstan following Chinese ban [Technology] 16 July 2021 Chinese bitcoin mining has almost entirely ceased since the government restricted cryptocurrency use in May, meaning much of this activity has moved elsewhere – including to Kazakhstan, where fossil fuels, including coal, produce more than 90 per cent of the nation’s electricity supply. [Bitcoin](/definition/bitcoin/) relies on a network of computers known as miners that solve mathematical problems to secure the currency, consuming vast amounts of electricity in the process. Data from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) shows that the previously rapid investment in new bitcoin...