How to Obtain a Digital Mining License in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan wants to be a regional crypto hub that links domestic mining to international markets and infrastructure, and it already ranks among the fastest developers of blockchain infrastructure in the post-Soviet region. Trading volumes in digital assets on regulated platforms have risen substantially, and the rise reflects busier commercial activity as much as investor confidence in the Kazakh market.

The Law On Digital Assets governs the work of mining companies, mining pools and crypto exchanges. The state issues a digital mining license through a dedicated portal.

Licensing is mandatory for large operators and small miners alike. I set out below the license types available to digital miners and how their activity is regulated, from grid connection through to the sale of mined assets on a licensed exchange.

Who Needs a License for Digital Mining in Kazakhstan

The requirement applies to every entity engaged in Kazakhstan crypto mining, whatever legal form the business takes and whatever the scale. Such operators include the following:

• large data centers and cryptocurrency mining farms
• private individuals supplying mining services to third parties
• legal entities that mine on their own computing capacity

The rules provide no exemption for individual mining conducted outside a corporate network.

It follows that a miner working steadily from a private home needs an official license too.

The Kazakh Statutes Behind Digital Mining Licensing

Kazakhstan regulates digital mining through a body of regulations that between them fix the status of participants, the conditions under which they operate and the licensing procedure itself. The Law On Digital Assets is the foundational statute. It sets the basic terms, separates the categories of crypto-mining participant and states what an applicant must satisfy before the regulator will authorize it to operate. The Law On Permissions and Notifications is decisive for licensing proper, since it holds the core provisions on issuing permissions, the procedure for doing so and the mechanism for supervising compliance. Alongside it, the Law On Public Services governs how the state delivers public services on the licensing side. It fixes the sequence for filing applications and the time allowed for review, and it makes the bodies that check documents answerable for their part.

Kazakh law defines crypto mining as running computational operations on specialized hardware and software under encoding and information-processing algorithms. A digital mining license is valid for three years. Miners may not carry on mining independently. Each must connect to an accredited mining pool, and that requirement gives the state control over how crypto assets are generated, how they circulate and whether energy-efficiency rules are met. A digital miner and a pool execute a hybrid contract that combines technical services with agency functions. Digital assets produced by mining in Kazakhstan may be traded only through authorized exchange crypto platforms licensed in the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC). Miners must sell at least 75% of everything they mine that way, and that threshold matches the requirements under which digital miners and mining pools declare income for tax. Anyone dealing in crypto assets outside these rules acts unlawfully and can face legal liability.

Two Categories of Kazakhstan Digital Mining License

Kazakhstan issues the license in two categories. The applicable category depends on who controls the data center.

• Category I covers a digital mining entity that owns a data center used for crypto mining, or uses one on other lawful grounds.
• Category II covers a miner with no data center of its own on any legal basis, working through equipment and software it owns that is physically housed within a third party's infrastructure.

Applicants in both categories file through the eLicense portal. An application for a digital mining license has to account for the data center in full. The applicant states where the facility is physically located and at what address it installs and runs the mining equipment. It must also give the technical parameters of connection to the engineering infrastructure and identify the energy sources in use.

The applicant also submits the technological connection scheme to the electricity grid, with expected load, power consumption and the measures that will hold supply steady.

Certain changes make re-issue compulsory. A company or individual entrepreneur that moves the data center to a new address must apply to have the license re-issued. So must one that changes its name or registered address, reorganizes, or meets any other trigger the legislation names. Categories I and II compare as follows.

Amendment and re-issue cost 10% of the fee charged on first issue.

Applying for a Digital Mining License: Requirements and Documents

An applicant qualifies only against proof of premises, owned or leased and fit to house the necessary equipment. Securing the power supply is mandatory too, which means a contract with an electricity supplier and connected capacity kept inside the established limits.

Information security is a further condition, and it covers both the equipment and confidential data. The applicant must also be clear of outstanding tax liabilities, and must evidence compliance with the technical requirements on paper, through equipment layout schemes and consumption figures.

Obtaining a digital mining license starts with an application through the eLicense portal, and a complete document package must accompany it.

• founding documents
• details of the premises and the equipment in use
• electricity supply contracts
• confirmation that no tax debt is outstanding
• documents evidencing the qualifications of personnel
• payment receipts

The Ministry of Digital Development reviews the filing and notifies the applicant of the grant or the refusal.

An approved applicant receives the license in electronic form. The Ministry has 15 working days from the date of filing.

Refusal to Issue a License

Officials can refuse a digital mining license on any of the following grounds.

• the activity in question is restricted by the applicable law for that category of person
• the license fee has not been paid as the rules require
• the applicant fails the qualification-suitability requirements
• a binding court ruling restricts or prohibits the applicant from carrying on the licensed activity or particular types of it
• a court has temporarily restricted the right of an applicant in debt to obtain a mining license in the country
• false information or documents have been detected in the application
• the applicant, or the data and documents supplied, do not meet the licensing rules

A miner running unauthorized Kazakhstan crypto mining faces administrative or criminal measures, depending on the degree and scale of the breach. Miners incur administrative liability for unlawful grid connection, for breaches of the rules on handling resources and for failures in the taxation procedure that applies to mining. Criminal liability attaches in two situations: mining accompanied by unauthorized electricity consumption, and mining carried on without a license.

The nature of the offense determines which penalties apply. Authorities may impose a fine, or restrict or prohibit the activity outright. They may also recover income and equipment compulsorily, and criminal liability can carry a custodial sentence.

Taxes on Digital Mining in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan has charged a digital mining fee on electricity since January 2022, and from January 2024 a single rate has applied at 2 tenge per kWh. A miner pays half that rate, 1 tenge per kWh, on electricity from renewables at its own power plants in Kazakhstan or from generating units not connected to the unified power system.

That fee is only part of the crypto mining tax position. Legal entities in the digital-asset segment pay corporate income tax at 20%. They compute the taxable base from total annual income, then adjust it under the tax legislation. Proceeds from selling digital assets fall outside aggregate income. A company calculates its taxable income from how many digital assets it acquired, multiplied by their daily value as published by Kazakhstan's tax authorities or the AIFC. The company deducts nothing for costs unconnected with earning income, mining costs among them. Individuals selling digital assets inside Kazakhstan pay income tax on the gain, at 10% for residents and 20% for non-residents. Under the VAT legislation, digital assets that a mining pool distributes among its participants are not a taxable turnover, and income from selling them is exempt as well.

Conclusion

Kazakhstan ranks among the post-Soviet leaders on the pace at which its financial sector is moving onto blockchain, and it plans to secure a place among the leaders of the Eurasian crypto sector. The state is bringing cryptocurrencies inside the official financial system and regulating what was once a shadow market. A comprehensive regime has been built over the last few years, aimed at transparent transactions and at controlled electricity consumption in a country with limited domestic energy resources. No market participant operates lawfully without a digital mining license.

Exchange options widen, the legal framework improves, and crypto-based financial products reach the market. A miner gains reliable infrastructure, investment access and legal security in one place.

I help clients navigate Kazakhstan's complex mining legislation, assemble a complete and correct document package for the license, and pick the right category of permit. A specialist helps lower the risk of a refusal and of fines, and keeps an application aligned with every technical and legal requirement.