The Irene Hilgers Memorial Prize honours a standout junior scholar, who has published an exceptional article in the journal, Central Asian Survey. This year’s award goes to Hugo Estecahandy, a PhD Candidate, IFG – Institut Français de Géopolitique and GEODE – Géopolitique de la Datasphère in Paris, France, for his compelling article ‘Geopolitics of cryptocurrency mining in Kazakhstan’.
In 2022, a major blackout hit southern Kazakhstan following a surge in electricity use, with the authorities blaming the rapid rise of energy-hungry cryptocurrency mining. Hugo’s paper explores the geopolitical drivers behind this boom, the geography and politics behind mining activities, and the potential impact of new regulations on the industry’s future.
We asked Hugo about the significance of his work:
“With the rapid growth of projects centered on computing power, particularly for the development and use of artificial intelligence, it is more important than ever to study the energy and political implications of these activities and infrastructures. This is especially relevant in Kazakhstan, a country with clear ambitions to build a national digital industry, and one that is deeply affected by significant geopolitical challenges, both regional and domestic.”
Hugo Estecahandy
The Irene Hilgers Memorial Prize is dedicated to the memory and scholarly achievements of Irene Hilgers, a German scholar of Uzbekistan. Hilgers died tragically young in 2008, shortly before completing her doctoral dissertation at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology. Known for fostering collaboration among young European scholars, Hilgers left a lasting legacy in Central Asian studies.
Judges praised Hugo’s article as ‘highly topical, well-structured, well-researched, well-presented and positions itself within the geography of digital materiality and cryptocurrencies, and given the subject matter, can be considered pioneering’.
We asked Hugo why this research is important right now:
“This support and recognition is especially meaningful now, as academic research faces funding challenges making it more difficult to purse. And studying Kazakhstan and Central Asia, a region in profound transformation shaped by complex geopolitical dynamics, is more necessary now than ever.”
Hugo Estecahandy
Hugo’s article has been made free to access for a year until end of May 2026. Browse Hugo’s article and past award-winning papers on The Irene Hilgers Memorial Prize page.
