[2023-02-12] Daily Raids on Crypto Farms as Abkhazia Intensifies Mining Crackdow

[chmod755]

Authorities in Abkhazia are stepping up efforts to clamp down on cryptocurrency mining amid electricity shortages in the winter months. The government of the breakaway Georgian region announced it’s also taking measures to prevent imports of mining equipment.

Source: https://news.bitcoin.com/daily-raids-on-crypto-farms-as-abkhazia-intensifies-mining-crackdown/

[darkangel11]

Abkhazia? Wouldn't it be easier to say Georgia? It's not a country, just a part of territory of another country.
The headline might look serious like a country is attacking crypto mining, while in fact we're talking about a small and politically unstable region with a little over 200k people.
How many of them are trying to mine bitcoin? Probably not many.

Also, it's worth noting they're talking about fighting people who are stealing power to mine crypto. It must be a real issue in this poor region if they're releasing statements to the press about something like that.

[bmwister]

Maybe it's not about mining? Maybe the power system needs to be strengthened or reconstructed? I believe that if there is a lack of electricity, it should be added, not banned mining.

[nioctib_100]

Maybe it's not about mining? Maybe the power system needs to be strengthened or reconstructed? I believe that if there is a lack of electricity, it should be added, not banned mining.

Yeah, in reading the article, they're dealing with energy shortages just like everyone. It's understandable to crack down on excessive uses of electricity, and a mining farm certainly qualifies. This would be a big deal if these crackdowns were in US where a third of the mining comes from, but in Georgia, it's not going to change anything for the rest of us.

Something you'd never guess though, is that the third largest mining country is Kazakhstan, which is right across the water from Georgia. I'd suspect they're going to be dealing with similar electricity issues, and perhaps Georgia cracking down on mining is just a sign of what's to come for Kazakhstan, which could have a relatively large impact on the entire industry.

[Betwrong]

Abkhazia? Wouldn't it be easier to say Georgia? It's not a country, just a part of territory of another country.
~

No. You can't say "Georgia" in this case, because it would be misleading. Abkhazia is a part of Georgia ruled by separatists backed by Russia. So, the "Abkhazia's government" is doing what their masters in Moscow are telling them to do, in accordance with what is taking place in Russia itself.



(a screenshot from the same source, news.bitcoin.com)

[chmod755]

How many of them are trying to mine bitcoin? Probably not many.

There must be a couple of miners if there are "daily raids on crypto farms" 

I couldn't find current electricity prices for Abkhazia on the internet, but according to this article: https://oc-media.org/electricity-prices-to-double-in-abkhazia-as-rolling-blackouts-return/ - it doubled from ~$0.01 to ~$0.02 in late 2022 - that's still extremely cheap compared to other nations => mining is profitable in this country.

politically unstable region with a little over 200k people.

Cheap electricity means: mining companies from other countries are moving their operations to this country (population doesn't matter)

[Betwrong]

politically unstable region with a little over 200k people.

Cheap electricity means: mining companies from other countries are moving their operations to this country (population doesn't matter)

Population doesn't matter, but political situation in the region does. No one wants their equipment confiscated, or, worse, all their money, or, even worse, they are put in jail on top of everything else. And you better be paranoid when going to places controlled by separatists backed by Russia.

[bbc.reporter]

Authorities in Abkhazia are stepping up efforts to clamp down on cryptocurrency mining amid electricity shortages in the winter months. The government of the breakaway Georgian region announced it’s also taking measures to prevent imports of mining equipment.

Source: https://news.bitcoin.com/daily-raids-on-crypto-farms-as-abkhazia-intensifies-mining-crackdown/

If electricity is really cheap and the government is corrupt similar to much of the 3rd world countries, we can assume that it would be easy for lawless minded miners to smuggle their mining equipment in their jurisdiction and mine illegally.

Also, the crackdown on legitimate miners will be good for the illegal miners because difficulty will go down and give them a bigger percentage of the total hashrate. There might be a future where illegal miners will make up more of the total than legitimate miners if all jurisdictions around the world begin cracking down on bitcoin mining. It will certainly not stop the criminals if there is money earned. Illegal bitcoin mining can also be funded by our favorite hustlers in the cryptospace to continue the party heheheeh.

[Woodie]

This is some sad reading, thought these power companies would be taking advantage of this demand that exists and look into expansion projects but no they simply look for an easy way out and target miners to paint a picture of doing something positive with the alleged erratic power supply.

Btw being winter aren't miners having a by product which is helping to keep their homes/houses warm so how is this a problem?? Besides, this is not a free service they are getting, they pay for this electricity.

[bbc.reporter]

Btw being winter aren't miners having a by product which is helping to keep their homes/houses warm so how is this a problem?? Besides, this is not a free service they are getting, they pay for this electricity.

I shake my head whenever I hear this type of argument from the community. This is not very much similar to a house heater that you can control which part if the house is heated and control the temperature with a switch. The heat also cannot be collected and directed to be used over a large scale to make it a serviceable solution.

Also, I speculate that the power companies would like to take advantage of the demand, however, the regulators are the problem. This will only cause miners to mine illegally or make some under the table deals with lawless minded people from the power companies.

[FUCKBSVFUCK]

This is the first time I've heard of this kind of news in my country. I'm a little surprised to see it being used as a tool for illegal activities. It's not just mining, it's the fact that it's illegal in some countries.

[nioctib_100]

I shake my head whenever I hear this type of argument from the community. This is not very much similar to a house heater that you can control which part if the house is heated and control the temperature with a switch. The heat also cannot be collected and directed to be used over a large scale to make it a serviceable solution.

Then someone needs to build this! A room heater that mines crypto and has a fan to distribute the heat into the room. I'd bet someone could make a living off such an idea, if you can get your hands on the parts needed to build such a thing, there are good profit margins in this sort of tech.