While the Bitcoin network slumps amid a nationwide internet blackout in Kazakhstan, a Spanish politician has called for her country to become a new global Bitcoin mining hub.

Spanish politician and deputy of the country’s Congress, María Muñoz, has proposed positioning Spain as a new crypto hub that could attract a slew of Bitcoin miners looking to flee the troubled nation of Kazakhstan.

The Central Asian nation, which became a significant haven for Bitcoin miners last year after the China crypto and mining crackdown, is in the middle of a civil-unrest-induced internet shutdown that’s currently killed off about 18 per cent of global Bitcoin mining production.

First occurring last week about the same time the US Fed reiterated plans to expedite interest-rate hikes, the Kazakhstan news has contributed to BTC’s recent price plummet to about US$40.5k  – the lowest levels it’s been since September 2021. (At the time of writing, BTC has bounced a bit, back up to US$41.9k.)

 

A ‘safe destination’ for crypto

The Kazakh unrest has been fuelled by public anger over a hike in gas prices in light of the context of the country’s former ruler Nursultan Nazarbayev and his family amassing a huge fortune.

Dozens have died in ensuing protest-related conflict in Kazakhstan, with buildings looted and torched in the worst violence experienced in the former Soviet nation in three decades.

“The protests in Kazakhstan have repercussions all over the world, also for Bitcoin,” wrote Muñoz on Twitter. “We propose that Spain positions itself as a safe destination for investments in cryptocurrencies to develop a flexible, efficient, and safe sector.”

The Spanish politician’s full proposition, also Tweeted, further revealed the proposition of a national Spanish crypto strategy:

“Last year we have proposed the creation of a National Strategy for Cryptocurrencies and for a high-level forum consisted of industry experts for the establishment of a regulated market that’s also flexible, favorable and safe for the mining and usage of cryptocurrencies,” read the strategy’s outline.

Whether Spain becomes the new mecca for displaced Bitcoin miners or not, it seems likely that the great Chinese Bitcoin-mining caravan now needs to roll on and migrate somewhere else.

Last year, the US overtook China to lead the world with the largest share (35.4 per cent) in global Bitcoin mining networks, according to data from the University of Cambridge. 

Until just recently, Kazakhstan contributed the world’s second-largest share of Bitcoin-mining power with 18.1 per cent.

Read MoreBitcoinCryptocurrency

You might be interested in