Even after the introduction of fines and criminal penalties for mining cryptocurrency, clandestine digital currency mining facilities continue to be found in Abkhazia. This week, law enforcement authorities confiscated dozens of mining devices from illegal crypto-farms.
In Abkhazia, they shut down a crypto-farm and seized mining equipment.
Police in Abkhazia shut down another crypto-mining facility in the region of the breakaway Republic of Georgia. This illegal coin-mining facility is located in the village of Yashtukha in the Sukhumi district, the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced.
On Wednesday, May 16, Interior Ministry officials, along with officials from the Department of Energy Supervision and other government agencies, raided the cryptocurrency farm on a tip-off.
An administrative report was filed against the miner, 29-year-old local resident Hanchalian Robertovich. He drove 31 mining machines, which were confiscated and transferred to the state warehouse.
Over the past few years, many Abkhazians have turned to crypto-mining as an alternative source of income. The government of the partially recognized republic in the South Caucasus blames energy-intensive processes for the growing shortage of electricity in the territory.
To address the power shortage, the Russian-backed de facto state temporarily banned cryptocurrency mining and equipment imports in 2018. The measure was extended last year until March 31, 2022, then in April until the end of this year.
Sukhumi authorities also imposed large fines and criminal liability for the illegal use of electricity for cryptocurrency mining. Mining is considered one of the main causes of frequent failures in the republic’s electricity distribution network.
Sukhumi officials have since acknowledged that efforts to curb cryptomining have largely failed. Last summer, the press reported that Abkhazia had held talks with Russia to resolve issues related to electricity supplies. At the time, the government also planned to regulate the activities and ensure that miners were legally connected to the electricity grid.
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