Kosovo pursues cryptocurrency mining to save electricity

To create (mine) cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, you have to solve complex equations with very powerful computers, and this consumes a huge amount of energy.

In a context of tensions with For the Serbian minority, which has not paid for electricity since the 1998-1999 war ended, the majority-Albanian government of Kosovo announced on Tuesday that it was temporarily banning cryptocurrency mining to reduce energy consumption.

During your operation, police “seized 272 devices used to produce bitcoins” and detained one person, according to a statement from the security body.

“The operation took place without incident,” Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla said on Facebook.

The electricity needed to run the confiscated equipment was equivalent to the monthly consumption of 500 homes, that is, between 60 thousand and 120 thousand euros (between US $ 68 thousand and US $ 136 thousand), as explained by the Minister of Finance, Hekuran Murati, also on Facebook.

“We cannot allow some to get rich illegally at the expense of the taxpayer,” he added.

The approximately 120,000 Serbs who remained in Kosovo after the end of the war remain loyal to Belgrade and do not recognize Pristina’s authority.

According to local media, the Energy consumption of the Serbian minority living in the north of Kosovo costs about 12 million euros per year (US $ 13.6 million).

The energy crisis in Kosovo was exacerbated by a failure in one of the country’s two power plants, prompting the government last December to order power restrictions.

Earlier in the week, the police carried out two operations in the Albanian community and seized 70 cryptocurrency mining devices.

Some experts have questioned the legality of these operations, as Kosovo does not have any law regulating the cryptocurrency sector.

Source: AFP