No Electric Supply to Bitcoin Mining Operations in Laos

[tbct_mt2]

If there's a severe drought in Laos and the country can't import electricity at affordable prices, then reducing the electricity supply to crypto miners is justified. I don't believe that the authorities in Laos are using the drought as an excuse to shut down the electricity supply to the crypto miners. If the situation continues I don't think that there will be problem for the crypto miners to just move to another country.
I don't have any data about the capacity of crypto mining facilities in Laos, but I can assume that the mining power is insignificant.

Laos belong to Mekong delta nations with China and in China mainland, we know they usually have big changes in rain, flood seasons. I agree with your opinion on likely impacts of drought on power supply especially hydroelectric supply in those nations. Laos is at nearly the end of Mekong delta so it has more impacts from drought than China.

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining is not what governments care most for their national economy and related industries that need electricity supply. When their nations' electricity supply has problems, they have reasons to temporarily cut supply to Bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining farms.

Bitcoin mining difficulty posts biggest drop since ASIC era

The difficulty drop is a result of the decline of the average total computing power racing on the network in the last two weeks as many Chinese miner operators have unplugged their machines to migrate to fossil fuel power stations from hydropower plants.

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[kryptqnick]

Hydropower is considered renewable and thus eco-friendly. It's great that Laos relies on a good source of energy, and it's also nice that miners are trying to use it rather than burn coal, so it's sad to hear that they will no longer be allowed to use it. The reasoning for halting electricity supply makes perfect sense, though, as hydropower relies on water, which makes droughts a big problem. There's also a claim on unpaid debts by mining companies, and if that's the main reason to choose to cut them off, it makes sense to me even without the drought.
But if it's a small thing, are there any other businesses that are being cut off? Surely there are other similarly non-essential enterprises, and they all should be treated equally if they consume similarly high amounts of energy?

[Mr. Magkaisa]

EDL has declared a halt in providing power to cryptocurrency mining ventures in Laos. The majority of the country's electricity, sourced from hydropower plants, will no longer be supplied to these operations. In September 2021, the Laotian government granted permission to six companies for cryptocurrency trading and mining.

The Governor of EGAT said that if the drought in Laos becomes severe, hydropower plants in Laos will generate less electricity, reducing export capacity.

https://en.vietnamplus.vn/laos-stops-power-supply-to-cryptocurrency-mining-businesses/266967.vnp

What do you guys think about this?

      -  At that point, they can't do anything because that is the jurisdiction and authority of the government in Laos. And I think the government has the right to do that. Anyone who is no longer able to pay correctly for electricity will have their supply cut off unless they pay on time.

Then we know that when it comes to Bitcoin mining farms, you can really expect that the number one high cost is electricity. And you should always be ready to maintain the payment there every month. But if that's not the reason and there is just a lack of sources to produce energy, there are other ways, like solar energy or solar panels.

[Vaskiy]

When there is no sufficient amount of electricity for the common people, and the government stopping the supply for mining operations is right decision. As Laos is a small nation and the contribution through its mining to the network is really small. For this reason bitcoin market isn't affected.

If these countries had got big mining operations, price might've varied big. Whenever something similar (like ban of mining) happens, the mining operation in those countries used to get shifted to the nearby country. This time such move haven't taken place.

[tbct_mt2]

If these countries had got big mining operations, price might've varied big. Whenever something similar (like ban of mining) happens, the mining operation in those countries used to get shifted to the nearby country. This time such move haven't taken place.

China crack down on Bitcoin mining caused a Great Hashrate Migration to other nations like USA, Iran, Kazhakstan, ... and the network as well as Bitcoin price are all fine years after that migration which is bigger than any migration of Bitcoin miners from Laos.

Surely what is happening in Laos won't have big impacts.

Hashrate recovers after Great Migration

As hashrate comes back online, Mining Difficulty has recommenced a series of upwards adjustments, having risen 27.9% since the Great Miner Migration peak in May 2021.

[cafter]

<snip>

Laos has stopped providing electricity to cryptocurrency miners because they consume a lot of electricity, which means there is not enough electricity for everyone. It is also not good for the environment, especially when the country depends on hydroelectricity. If  it doesn't rain enough, the situation could be even worse. Above all, you have to think about money and rules. even though cryptocurrency mining can make money, it must be controlled so that not to cause trouble for other important things.