Police in Kosovo seized another batch of over 200 mining
devices as part of raids that started on Thursday. The offensive against
underground crypto farms was launched after authorities in Pristina
banned the power-hungry minting of digital currencies amid an energy
crisis in the country.
Authorities in Kosovo Confiscate Mining Hardware in Serb Majority North
Law enforcement officers in Kosovo have confiscated hundreds of
mining machines as part of efforts to curb crypto mining activities in
the face of electricity shortages. One person has been arrested in the
latest police operation in the predominantly Serb northern part of the
country.
A statement issued by the Kosovo police revealed that the authorities
have seized 272 devices used for the production of cryptocurrency in
the municipality of Leposavic, AFP reported. “The whole action took
place and ended without incidents,” Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla
noted in a post on Facebook.
Finance Minister Hekuran Murati also took to the social media
platform to point out that the estimated monthly consumption of the
mining equipment is as much as the power used by 500 homes, worth
between €60,000 and €120,000 euros. Murati also stated:
We cannot allow the illegal enrichment of some, at the expense of taxpayers.
The new seizure has brought to 342 the total number of mining rigs
confiscated since the raids against miners started earlier this week,
data from the Ministry of Interior shows. The crackdown began after the
government in Pristina halted all mining operations on Tuesday, citing the growing power deficit in the cold winter months.
Mining Crackdown Threatens to Increase Ethnic Tensions
Amid the government offensive on mining facilities, tensions have
been running high between the central government of Kosovo, dominated by
ethnic Albanians, and the ethnic Serbs who form a majority in four
municipalities in the north of the partially recognized republic in
South East Europe. Serbs do not accept the authority of Pristina and
have not paid for electricity in over two decades, since the 1998 – 1999
Kosovo war.
The country’s public utility is still covering their bills from its
own revenues and according to estimates quoted by local media, the total
amounts to €12 million a year. The current energy crisis, exacerbated
by insufficient local generation and rising import prices, brought the
issue to the forefront. Police have also carried out two raids in ethnic
Albanian majority areas, seizing 70 mining devices.
The crypto mining ban was presented by Economy Minister Artane
Rizvanolli as an emergency step, along with other measures proposed by a
special parliamentary committee. However, critics have raised doubts
about its legality as the minting of digital currencies is not
prohibited by the current legislation. A draft law on cryptocurrency
regulation submitted to the parliament in October is yet to be adopted.
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