Government Kazakhstan turn off service internet on Wednesday (5/1/2022) local time. This was done to dampen the actions of protesters protesting against the increase in fuel oil prices over the past few days. The internet blackout, which was intended to disrupt the protesters' communications, had a far wider impact.
The miner (miner) of cryptocurrencies) Bitcoin There too affected. In fact, it also makes the price of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin go down. Kazakhstan is one of the countries with a large number of Bitcoin miners in the world, ranking second in 2021 after the United States. As a result, the government's move caused about 15 percent of the Bitcoin network around the world to collapse.
Based on data Cambridge Centre for Alternative FinanceKazakhstan hosts 18.1 percent of Bitcoin miners globally. The number of Bitcoin miners in Kazakhstan has become large since the Chinese government shut down its bitcoin mining hub in 2021. The miners then "fled" to Kazakhstan.
The cost of electricity there is also called quite cheap. In other words, it is only natural that internet disconnection in Kazakhstan makes Bitcoin's operations globally hampered. Moreover, Bitcoin's operations also rely heavily on the network or miner operating. The more mining network, the greater the computing power or hashrate to mine Bitcoin.
That is, if countries that affect bitcoin operations do not have access to the internet, then things related to Bitcoin, including its value will also be affected. Based on data CoinDesk, the price of Bitcoin as of Thursday (06/01/2022) decreased 8 percent to a figure of around 43,000 US dollars (approximately Rp 617 million) per piece. As summarized by KompasTekno from CNBC.com, Friday (07/01/2022), the internet in Kazakhstan itself since Thursday has recovered.
However, the price of Bitcoin is still stuck at around $43,000 per piece as of this Friday. There is no sign yet whether the price of Bitcoin will rise again or not in the future. Kazakhstan's internet disconnect proves that Bitcoin's operations rely heavily on the large number of miner communities in a country and the internet.