Hi everyone,

A few months ago, during a trip to Kazakhstan, I met a friend who owns a medium-sized cryptocurrency mining farm (around 8,000 ASICs). He offered me the chance to buy my own machines in cash and host them in his mining farm, in exchange for relatively low maintenance and operational fees, plus very cheap electricity costs.
Since I’ve never invested in cryptocurrencies before, I thought this could be a real opportunity, especially given that low electricity costs are a key factor for a good return on investment.
To be honest, I also find the idea of actively participating in mining by owning my own machines in Kazakhstan pretty exciting.
However, I want to do my homework and thoroughly research all the specifics and details of this project before moving forward.

Here are the technical details:

    3 ASICs purchased at $2,400 each, for a total investment of $7,200.

    Model: Whatsminer M60S – 186 TH/s – 3,145W.

    Electricity cost: between $0.024 and $0.049/kWh.

    Maintenance fees from my friend: $0.004/kWh.

I should clarify that I’m particularly interested in paying for the ASICs in cash. My friend mentioned that corruption is widespread in Kazakhstan, so it’s possible to bribe a store to buy the ASICs under the table, without needing to fill out customs declarations or paperwork related to crypto activities in the country.
So, no need to suggest investing this money in buying BTC directly through an exchange (since that wouldn’t allow me to pay in cash).

Regarding privacy measures, I’m considering:

    Buying the ASICs in cash (untraceable).

    Mining directly with the ViaBTC pool (based in China).

    Transferring from the ViaBTC pool to a Ledger cold wallet.

I have a few questions about this:

    Does ViaBTC require KYC?

    Could ViaBTC share my information with tax authorities?

    Would you recommend mixing my BTC before transferring them to my Ledger?

My long-term strategy would be to stack my Bitcoin for the long haul and only cash out a few times a year to recoup the cost of the ASICs.

    When cashing out, do you have any recommendations for transferring BTC from my Ledger to an exchange?

    Or would you suggest using a Bitcoin ATM to cash out in € or $?

    If so, would I need an additional non-KYC online wallet to transfer my BTC from my Ledger?

More generally, does this project seem unreasonable for someone who has never invested in cryptocurrencies? What are the risks and potential issues I might face?

Thanks for your time and help!