According to Odaily Planet Daily, Venezuelan authorities, led by the Ministry of Electricity and the state-owned power company Corpoelec, have seized more than 6,000 Bitcoin mining machines in two new operations, bringing the total to more than 17,000 mining machines. These measures are part of a plan announced by the Ministry of Electricity to cut off all Bitcoin mining operations to reduce the energy load of these mining machines on the power system. The country is facing an energy crisis that has caused continuous power outages in several states.
The authorities have not yet clarified whether the ban will continue after the power crisis subsides, or whether it will become final. Earlier, Venezuela’s Ministry of Electricity disclosed an operation to monitor the activities of high-power customers (including Bitcoin miners) connected to the national power grid.
Rafael Lacava, the governor of Carabobo state, where most of the country’s industrial parks are located, led a series of actions that culminated in the seizure of more than 11,000 ASIC miners and the disconnection of electricity to an unknown number of cryptocurrency mining farms. The actions focused on reducing the energy used for these activities.