TL;DR Breakdown
• In the South Caucasus republic, the Abkhaz authorities have closed down eight crypto farms.
• In June, law enforcement officers discovered and disconnected over 300 mining devices.
Over 300 mining devices have been left without power in Abkhazia, and an operator has been fined. In addition, between the 1st to 14th of June, Abkhazia authorities and police have been able to find eight crypto mining farms operating in violation of this country’s bans on cryptocurrency adoption.
Abkhaz’s largest crypto farms shut down
Law enforcement authorities have disconnected about 359 mining hardware units, which is a serious blow to this network. In addition, raids have been carried out by the Ministry of the Interior and police officers in different regions of the South Caucasus Republic.
Three of the illegal crypto farms have been in the capital, Sujemi, where the police have been able to shut down 17 mining devices and have been able to impose administrative sanctions on their owners.
Three other facilities in the Gudauta district have been discovered. In this place, the police officers disconnected 128 mining devices.
The largest crypto farm has been discovered in the Gali district. This farm had 184 operational mining devices; representatives of the local power company estimated that they had consumed about 170 kilowatts of electricity. They imposed a fine on the operator of 408,000 Russian rubles (about $5,660). This crypto mining farm has been successfully disconnected from the network.
In inspections in the Gagra district, the Abkhazian police discovered 17 coin minting devices, leaving around 28.5 kilowatts of electricity. All these platforms were also closed and sealed.
The Interior Minister of the separatist Republic of Georgia carries out the pertinent studies and carries out daily controls to discover and identify crypto farms without considering the region’s crypto regulations.
The Sukhumi government earlier this year extended a ban on digital currency mining until March 31, 2022. This ban also introduced criminal liability and heavy fines for the illegal use of electricity to mine cryptocurrencies.
These restrictions were initially released at the end of 2018 due to an increase in mining activity that left the state facing an energy crisis. Although in early 2019, Abkhazia Chernomor Energy utility company shut downed 15 crypto farms with an electrical capacity of 8,950 kilowatts, at this time, they claimed the move was temporary.
In the search for new crypto mining farms in operation, the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic is regularly verifying all the facilities and farms previously closed. During the month, the police and authorities have visited 89 facilities to enforce the restrictions established by the country.
