Kosovo Police Arrest 300 Cryptocurrency Miners During Power Outage

Kosovo police are stepping up counterattacks against cryptocurrency operators by seizing more than 300 mining machines on January 8 alone.

Kosovo police announced on January 8 that they had captured 272 “antminer” bitcoin miners in the town of Reposavich and 39 others near Pristina.

Meanwhile, police also arrested the driver along with six cryptocurrency miners and 42 graphics cards (GPUs) near Druar in Vushtrri. The driver was then questioned and released.

Trade manager Artane Rizvanoli announced his support for the Kosovo police, saying: “In times of crisis, taxpayers save thousands of dollars every month.

insufficient power in kosovo

In December, due to blackouts and blackouts, Kosovo declared a 60-day state of emergency. Since then, the Minister of the Economy has banned all mining of cryptocurrency on January 5. Kosovo now depends on exports for 40% of its energy.

As previously reported by Cointelegraph, Bitcoin mining consumes 101 TWh of energy per year, more than the Philippines as a whole. However, miners have turned to renewable energy, especially in the United States, which has become a new mining environment.

According to the Dutch news platform The Paypers, cryptocurrency mining has been around for some time in Kosovo. Since the end of the Kosovo war in 1999 and until recently, residents of northern Serb-controlled towns have preferred free electricity.

At the end of November 2021, the electricity grid operator KOSTT announced that it would not provide free electricity to four towns in the north: Mitrovica North, Zvecan, Zubin Potok and Leposavic.

The Balkans were part of Serbia before declaring their independence in 2008 and have been applying for these grants ever since. In recent months, many countries, including Iran and Kazakhstan, have also raised concerns about mine-related power outages.