Venezuela raids 2 more Bitcoin mining farms

Over the weekend, two more farms were raided in central Venezuelan states, evidence that the closure and dismantling of Bitcoin mining facilities continues in the South American country.

According to the information published by the Ministry of Electric Energy on social networks and also disseminated by local media, they seized around 6,288 mining equipment in raids carried out in Portuguesa and Cojedes.

Venezuelan authorities now claim to have confiscated about 5,995 machines in the Portuguesa state, which were disconnected. According to them, the procedure was carried out with the accompaniment of police and military forces.

A similar situation occurred in the state of Cojedes with the raid on the Dimitras CA mining farm, located in the Tinaco municipality, where apparently all infrastructure was dismantled.

In this procedure, the Public Ministry seized as evidence of criminalistic interest 293 mining machines, 22 cooling fans, nine 400 amp breakers, eight 200 volt contactors, two computers adapted for the mining surveillance and monitoring system and four 167.5 transformers. kVA.

Ascensión García Caballero, territorial manager of Corpoelec.

The seizures were made as part of the so-called “Special Cargo Control Plan” launched by the Ministry in conjunction with the Electric Energy Corporation (Corpoelec) and the Public Ministry.

The objective, as indicated by the Ministry on its Instagram account, is to “improve the electricity service”, which has been characterized – for several years now – by continuous supply failures.

Under this allegation, the goal of the Venezuelan government is to disconnect from the National Electric System (SEN) all existing cryptocurrency mining farms in the country. That is why, for more than a week, the authorities have proceeded to carry out a series of raids that began in the state of Carabobo, also in the center of the country.

Hence, the official García Caballero called on the citizens «to denounce those who carry out digital mining activities» before the corresponding authorities, such as the Citizen Security Organizations or the Corpoelec offices.

These are actions that, in the opinion of the authorities, “will avoid the high impact on demand and will allow us to continue offering an efficient and reliable service to all the Venezuelan people.”

The miners are thus blamed for the supply problems present throughout the territory, despite the fact that data from the Venezuelan Observatory of Public Services (OVSP) indicates that Venezuela has an energy deficit of at least 3,000 megawatts. Consequently, only 10,000 MW of the 13,000 MW demanded by the population are available.

That is why many Venezuelans find it difficult to fulfill the promise of improving the service only with the disconnection of the Bitcoin mining farms, as they comment on the social networks of the Ministry of Electric Energy. There, the majority of users responded to the organization’s publication questioning the quality of service and doubting that the failures will disappear.

Previous reports indicate that, as of May 20, more than 11,000 Bitcoin miners had been confiscated in the Carabobo industrial zone. A figure that would have risen to 13,000 in later days, with raids in the neighboring state of Aragua. Although unofficial data, provided to CriptoNoticias by Venezuelan miners, indicate that seizures are already over 100,000 devices throughout the country.

This whole situation leads to a de facto illegalization of Bitcoin mining. In a panorama where the paralysis of processes related to the industry has even been generated, such as the sale of equipment and the offer of technical services. As reported by this media, all this occurs despite the fact that the activity has legal status according to current laws, Venezuela being a country that stood out for being one of the pioneers in mining regulation.

However, everything changed in 2023. This, after the intervention of Sunacrip, the sector’s supervisory body, and the arrest of former superintendent Joselit Ramírez, in the midst of a corruption scandal. Since that moment the attitude of the national government towards the industry has taken a 180 degree turn, subjecting it to a stage of uncertainty which apparently is far from disappearing.