Between 2015 and 2022, Bitcoin mining farms exploded across Kazakhstan, drawn by cheap electricity and loose regulations. When China banned crypto mining in May 2021, Kazakhstan overnight became the world’s second-largest mining hub.
But the boom was short-lived. Mining operations sprouted in energy-poor regions as well, leading the government to impose electricity limits in 2022. Many farms began leaving the country.
American company Genesis Digital Assets (GDA) was one of the biggest players, building large-scale mining infrastructure—but the company soon became embroiled in scandals.
In 2023, Kazakh businessman Yermek Alimov sued GDA in the UK High Court. Alimov claims he invested money, spent years organizing the company’s infrastructure and providing electricity for the mining farms in Kazakhstan. Yet in 2020, he was ousted from the project, stopped receiving Bitcoin payments, and was denied his promised share in GDA.
The company’s opacity raises further questions, especially given the collapse of FTX, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges. In 2022, FTX went bankrupt, with users losing billions. Yet shortly before the collapse, $1.15 billion was diverted “for investments”—into GDA. Of that, $470 million ended up with GDA co-founder Rashit Mahat, a Kazakh businessman.
In September 2025, FTX investors filed a lawsuit in the U.S., demanding the return of the $1.15 billion. The withdrawal was not only illegal but suspicious, given FTX’s rapid collapse.
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in U.S. prison. The question now: will his Kazakh partners face justice too?
