Kosovo bans bitcoin mining and pursues those operating in secret

Kosovo became the first country in Europe to follow in China’s footsteps, citing the power crisis that led to power outages in many areas. It banned Bitcoin (BTC) mining on the advice of ‘experts’.

And so on Reported In a statement posted on Facebook, the country’s economy minister, Arden Rizwanoli, backed the move as a measure to curb electricity use. At a time when they are facing the worst crisis in recent years.

Kosovar officials will identify the locations, the government official said Where they are cut Cryptocurrencies Illegally.

“All law enforcement agencies, in conjunction with other related agencies that identify the locations where cryptocurrencies are produced, will stop the production of this process,” it said in a statement.

Kosovo is a country with limited recognition located in southeastern Europe Due to the low cost of energy, many young people have decided to enter the energy industry Cryptocurrency mining.

However, a series of power cuts at major coal plants forced local authorities to pay higher import prices. Start cutting electricity on a planned basis.

In fact, the move to ban mining is part of the technical committee’s recommendation for emergency measures in the energy supply created in December. To face the aforementioned crisis.

The technical committee held two meetings to identify measures to address the adverse effects of the situation created by the global energy crisis and to implement them. Based on the recommendations of this technical committee, I made a decision last week on emergency measures to ban the production of cryptocurrencies throughout the territory of the Republic of Kosovo.

Arden Rizvanoli, Minister of Economy of Kosovo.

Revenue up to 2,400 euros per mine

Reuters news agency Change With a Kosovar miner, he wanted to be anonymous. An expert with 40 GPUs, he pays around 170 euros a month for electricity. Your income for the mine will be over 2,400 euros.

The mining industry was concentrated in the north of the country, and the Serbs in general did not recognize the state of Kosovo Refuse to pay electricity bills.

According to the Efe Agency, about 10,000 people already work with Bitcoin in Kosovo, but there is no clear data on the value of transactions made in that country.

Europe’s first ban

As mentioned earlier, Kosovo has now become the first European country to ban mining. But despite that, The intentions to block the operation are several months old.

In November, this middle Reviewed Claims of two Swedish regulatory bodies, Those who want the mining of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to be banned in Sweden and throughout Europe.

However, the arguments here are based on the environmental impact of digital mining. Proved This is very low Compared to other industrial activities.

It is not clear whether the move to ban mining is permanent or until the crisis is resolved. The truth is, now, Kosovo is off the list of countries that have produced bitcoin, perhaps paving the way for others.