Some miners would have to move to more suitable facilities to stabilize their electricity consumption and impact on the grid. Nine mining groups are taking advantage of the opportunity to regularize their legal situation.
Authorities of Carabobo, Venezuela, had suspended the electric service to the Bitcoin mining farms in that state on August 7th. After a meeting with those groups, the regulators allowed them to continue using the energy to reconnect and restart their activities.
Superintendent Joselit Ramirez represented the Crypto Assets Superintendency (Sunacrip) at the meeting. Likewise, representatives of the National Association of Cryptocurrencies (Asonacrip) were present.
The authorities had suspended the electricity service to cryptocurrency miners but promised to restore it, as has indeed been the case.
Mining Groups Seize the Opportunity to Regularize their Legal Situation
Nine mining farm operators are taking advantage of the approach to the authorities to regularize their legal status. The regulators did not impose fines or penalties on that group of miners.
Additionally, some miners may have had to move to other industrial parks within the state. The purpose would be to stabilize their consumption and impact on the electricity grid, depending on their available capacity.
In the announcement at the meeting, Asonacrip noted that miners contribute their income to the recovery of the national electricity system. Analysts believe that multiple reasons have led to severe problems and instability in this service in recent years.
Although there is less energy demand due to the economic crisis and the quarantine, the failures in the electricity service have intensified. That creates problems with the water, telephone, Internet, subway, and train services, which operate with electricity. The electrical issues are due to energy generation, transmission and distribution to consumers.
In recent days, the National Electricity Corporation (Corpoelec) of Venezuela proposed to collect taxes from the miners of Carabobo state. That government company was absent at the meeting and has not issued any statements on this point.
Incidents between Cryptocurrency Miners and Authorities in Venezuela
Anonymous sources have revealed that there have been sporadic incidents between legally-established miners and police and military officials. The Carabobo Government and Corpoelec have also participated in those events, but no one has reported them publicly.
Throughout 2021, several of these episodes have recurred in Carabobo state. For example, the authorities seized nearly 40 mining devices in a police raid in January.
The operation took place in the El Encanto urbanization, Tocuyito, according to the police authorities. They did not identify the arrested person, only saying that he was a 53-year-old man accused of committing computer crimes.
In early July, Asonacrip, Corpoelec, and the Carabobo regional police held a meeting to discuss that issue. That generated a rapprochement between the miners and the authorities of that state of Venezuela.
The growing relevance of cryptocurrencies in the global economy leads authorities to put pressure on miners. The income they generate in Venezuela helps to recover the country’s electricity system, according to Asonacrip.
By Alexander Salazar
