Bitcoin News and Finance
Kosovo Seizes Hundreds of Crypto Mining Machines in Crackdown Skip to main content

Kosovo Seizes Hundreds of Crypto Mining Machines in Crackdown

Kosovo Seizes Hundreds of Crypto Mining Machines in Crackdown

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.

Do you expect authorities in Kosovo to continue their crackdown on crypto miners? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Custodial Lightning Network Service Attack Discovered by LN ‘Newbie’ — Hacker Strikes 6 LN Custodians

On September 18, a Redditor posted to the r/bitcoin forum and explained how he discovered a way to “attack [the] lightning Network’s custodial services.” The Reddit account dubbed “Reckless Satoshi” wanted to figure out if a “discrepancy between real routing fees and service’s transaction fee can be exploited for a profit.” The researcher disclosed that he wanted to see how large the damage could be and said “it is bad.” 6 Lightning Network Custodial Services Attacked, Researcher Discloses Findings to Offenders Prior to Public Disclosure A Redditor called Reckless Satoshi published a disclosure post on r/bitcoin this past Saturday and disclosed how he had found a vulnerability with routing fees and some of the Lightning Network’s custodial services. The research attack was done in good faith and after it was complete he disclosed the bugs to the offending services before publishing his findings. Reckless Satoshi used the Lightning Network (LN) attack on six different services incl...
Post a Comment
Read more

Axie Infinity Down 40% Since Last Week’s Price High, Protocol Revenue Outshines Competitors

Last week, the game token leveraged within the Axie Infinity gaming universe skyrocketed to all-time highs, while other crypto markets remained extremely lackluster. During the last seven days, Axie Infinity’s platform token has dropped significantly in value shedding more than 12%. Meanwhile, the game platform’s smooth love potion token has slid over 8% over the last 24 hours. Axie Infinity Down More Than 40% Since All-Time High Not too long ago, the axie infinity (AXS) token was a topical conversation because it reached an all-time high on July 15. At the time, AXS managed to capture $28.93 per unit and since then it has shed 12.8% during the last seven days. The axie infinity (AXS) token is used within the blockchain-based game that involves battles between token-based creatures called “Axies.” AXS is used for the game’s governance system as well as other actions within the game. At the time of writing axie infinity (AXS) is exchanging hands for $16.70 per coin. AXS/USD on Ju...
Post a Comment
Read more

Play-to-Earn Game From Polker (PKR) Exchange Listing – Endorsed by Akon

The Play-to-Earn NFT based Polker.Game ‘s native token $PKR has been officially listed on the popular centralized exchange BitMart. Polker.game has been in the spotlight recently as Akon, the American R&B superstar and record producer gave his official endorsement of polker stating that the “game is revolutionary” and that Polker is “hands down.. the best play to earn, NFT game in the space.”. With the BitMart listing and celebrity endorsement from Akon, Polker is perfectly positioned to become a major player in the Play-to-Earn league. Watch Akon’s Video Here What is Play-to-Earn? Although not a new concept, play-to-earn has become a trending term due to the popularity of the NFT game AXIE infinity. In the past, previous play-to-earn games have also achieved success – however, thanks to the huge amount of development in the blockchain space in recent years the gaming experience is now massively improved. Play-to-Earn games are essentially free to play and open to anyone and...
Post a Comment
Read more

China to Crack Down on Copyright Infringement Through NFTs

Authorities in China are going after creators of digital collectibles based on other people’s works of art, the use of which was not authorized. The government offensive is part of a campaign to combat online copyright infringement and piracy with the participation of several departments. Regulators in China Move to Strengthen Copyright Supervision of Online Platforms The National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) has recently launched a campaign against copyright infringement and piracy on the internet, together with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, and the State Internet Information Office of the People’s Republic. A major objective of the initiative is to improve copyright supervision of online businesses by investigating cases involving the sale and distribution of infringing products on short video, live broadcast and e-commerce platforms, and promptly dealing with infringing content, the agency announced in a press r...
Post a Comment
Read more
Blogarama - Blog Directory