Kosovo Police Seized 300 Crypto Mining Machines Amid Electricity Shortages

Kosovo, a partially identified state located in south-eastern Europe, has begun to take stringent actions to tackle the issue of power shortages with the country. To this end, the federal police had seized approximately 300 crypto mining machines from miners during recent raids.

The raid took place in the Prishtina and Leposavic regions just after Kosovo placed a ban on crypto mining activities. The ban was issued on the 5th of January 2022. Since then, 272 Antminer Bitcoin mining machines and another 39 machines were seized in the Leposavic and Prishtina regions. The police also intercepted a driver transporting 6 crypto mining machines close to Druar in Vushtrri.

With more than 270 crypto mining machines seized in the Leposavic region, this is an indication that crypto mining is very popular within that region. This crypto crackdown has received major support from Artane Rizvanolli, the Minister of Economy for Kosovo. She took to her Twitter account asserting that the crackdown saves thousands of euros while also providing more energy to families in Kosovo during the crisis.

Updates of raids carried out by the police are regularly posted on the Kosovo Police Account. And Artane Rizvanolli continues to show her support.

Kosovo’s Energy Squeeze

The clampdown on crypto mining in Kosovo came after the country began experiencing an energy crisis. Ultimately, this crisis led to a two-month emergency within the country.

The Kosovo government discovered that illegal crypto mining activities were responsible for the energy crises. The crypto-mining operations consumed electricity meant to be distributed for household use within the country.

Presently, Kosovo is unable to supply enough electricity to meet daily household consumption needs for its approximately 2 million citizens. The country’s power generation capacity is about 900 MegaWatts most of which is generated from two old coal-fired power plants. In the bid to improve energy generation the country further imports about 40% of its energy based on a Devdiscourse report.

Currently, the country is striving to look for ways to provide adequate electricity and energy for its citizens. However, the increasing crypto mining activities are now putting excessive burdens on the country’s power grid. Now, the Kosovo government is forced to place a ban on crypto mining operations to save energy and task payers’ money.

According to a news platform established in the Netherlands known as The Paypers, crypto mining operations have increased significantly in Kosovo. Not until recently, electricity and energy had been free for citizens living in the country since the 1999 Kosovo War ended.

However, the free supply of electricity came to an end in the country in November 2021. KOSTT, the operator for Kosovo’s electricity network system, declared that electricity will no longer be free for four cities located north of the country. These cities include Zvecan, Leposavic, Zubin Potok, and Mitrovica North.

Kosovo was initially part of Serbia till it announced its independence in 2008 and since then continued to pay electricity subsidies.

Not the First time

Kosovo won’t be the first country to face electricity crises as a result of crypto mining operations. In recent months several countries have also reflected their worries about power outages as a result of crypto mining operations. Countries like Kazakhstan and Iran have recently been affected.

According to a report published last year, crypto mining activities of the four top crypto mining firms produced more than.3 million metric tons of CO2. This research only put into account crypto mining activities from the 1st of January, 2016, to the 30th of June 2018.

Many environmentalists fear that pollution will only continue to grow given the crypto space is just beginning to expand. Therefore more crypto miners are still expected to join the leagues. To trade in crypto you can simply visit bitcoinscircuit.app or immediate edge.

Iran, to reduce the load on its electricity supply, has also placed a ban on crypto mining operations in the region. In the Irkutsk region in eastern Russia, crypto miners have also been blamed for causing blackouts through overexploitation of electricity. Authorities in the Irkutsk region revealed that there was about a 108% increase in electricity usage just last year.

Based on data documented by Cambridge researchers, Bitcoin mining operations for a year consumes about 121.36 terawatt-hours (TWh) of energy. To compare, the entire nation of Argentina makes use of 121 terawatt-hours (TWh) yearly while the United Arab Emirates uses 113.20 TWh yearly.