Georgia Goes After Crypto Miners Using Subsidized Electricity in Historic Town
A record high consumption of electricity blamed on illegal crypto farms in northwestern Georgia has caught the attention of authorities in the capital Tbilisi. The central government and the local utility are taking on the issue of dealing with power shortages in the mountainous region of Svaneti. With Tourism Hit by Pandemic, People in Georgia Turn to Crypto Mining on Cheap Energy The government of Georgia, a small nation in the Caucasus, has joined forces with the energy distribution company Energo-pro, to address the growing illegal use of electricity to mine....
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Police in Iran have reportedly seized 45,000 bitcoin mining rigs for illegally using subsidized electricity from the state-owned power utility Tavanir, the local Tasmin News Agency reported this week. According to Mohammad Hassan Motavalizadeh, head of Tavanir, the efficient application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) bitcoin miners had been consuming 95 megawatts (MW) per hour of electricity at cheaper prices. Authorized miners are charged around 4,800 rials ($0.11) per kilowatt-hour in autumn, winter and spring, says the Iranian Energy Ministry. Subsidized rates may be half as much.....
A Russian power utility has found a way to increase electricity prices for consumers mining cryptocurrency using household electricity. The regional distribution company has taken dozens of amateur miners to court and has already won some of the cases.
Power Utility Goes After Crypto Miners Using Subsidized Electricity to Mint Digital Coins
Irkutskenergosbyt, a power distributor in the Russian region of Irkutsk, has managed to secure an increase of the electricity tariffs for crypto mining farms set up in private homes. The utility was able to prove in court that their owners....
Authorities in Belarus and the Russian Federation are taking steps to separate cryptocurrency miners from other groups of power users and deny them access to subsidized energy. This could lead to the adoption of differentiated electricity rates for businesses involved in digital coin minting activities. Cryptocurrency Miners in Russia and Belarus May Face Higher Energy Prices Entities engaged in the extraction of digital currencies in both Russia and Belarus may have to pay more for the electrical energy they need, media reports have revealed. Authorities in both countries are making....
The federal government in Moscow has permitted regions to determine local electricity tariffs for the population, a measure that will affect crypto mining at homes. Subsidized household electricity in Russia is often used to mint digital currencies in basements and garages.
Regions in Russia Granted Permission to Increase Costs for Home Mining
Russians mining cryptocurrencies at their homes may expect higher electricity bills as a result of a reform allowing regional authorities to limit the electrical energy supplied at preferential rates. The move comes after local utilities....
A holy oath was taken to try to ensure the region’s power grid would work at its most efficient level, as crypto miners are blamed for drawing off too much juice. Residents of Svaneti, Georgia, have reportedly been made to pledge a holy oath they will not mine cryptocurrency in order to deal with energy shortages blamed on Bitcoin mining.The economy of the northwest Svaneti region of Georgia depends on tourism spending, which rose every year from 2000 to 2019 according to Macrotrends. As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, however, tourism plummeted in 2020 and has only recently begun to....