On November 12, all mining farms in Kyrgyzstan were disconnected from the power supply due to an electricity shortage. This was announced by the country’s Minister of Energy, Talaybek Ibraev, in an interview with 24.kg.
“In the current conditions of electricity deficit, a decision has been made to completely disconnect all mining farms across the republic. This issue is under my special control,” he explained.
However, Ibraev noted that the country’s energy system is not in crisis but is operating under increased load conditions.
The minister urged people “not to panic,” but reported that the water level in the Toktogul Reservoir, which powers the local hydroelectric station, is currently almost 2 billion cubic meters less than last year.
According to him, it is necessary to conserve electricity to maintain water volume until the end of the heating season and to avoid overloading generators.
“At peak load, we have to reduce power from 5 kW to 3 kW. This is stipulated in contracts and is done to prevent the equipment that supplies the population from burning out. Both light and heat will be available in Kyrgyz homes. But we will have to economize. By the way, this is normal,” added Ibraev.
Introducing a New Coin
Almost simultaneously with the mining shutdown news, the Ministry of Finance of Kyrgyzstan announced the launch of the USDKG stablecoin in the country.
The total issuance volume amounted to $50.4 million. The asset is backed by gold and pegged to the US dollar.
The “stable coin” is issued by JSC “Virtual Assets Issuer,” with the Ministry of Finance as its 100% shareholder. A listing on centralized and decentralized platforms is planned in the coming days.
“USDKG is an offer to the world of a new financial standard based on transparency, reliability, and backing by real assets. Each token is backed by physical gold under state control, making the project a symbol of honest and backed stablecoins,” the press release states.
Officials emphasized that the project is not related to the initiative to develop the national stablecoin KGST and digital som.
Back in September, the Kyrgyz parliament approved in three readings a bill “On Virtual Assets,” regulating the cryptocurrency market and allowing the creation of a bitcoin reserve.