Cryptocurrency Mining in Abkhazia criminalized Amid continuous Energy crisis

By: Henry Felix

April 4, 2021 11:06 AM

Mining crypto in Abkhazia is still hot in the lips of de facto state government. The government is committed to criminalizing crypto mining activities as continued power outage draws wrath from the people towards the miners.

According to a previous report by E Daily, the authorities disclosed that it's working on a proposal that will file criminal charges against crypto miners and also fine them.

The report revealed that the authorize could set a fine as high as $8,000 which is equivalent to the yearly average income per individual in the state. However, this seems to be mild compared to other punishments currently being evaluated in the proposal.

The Abkhazia government aims at a more cruel penalty against public servants who are involved in mining crypto assets in the state. Meanwhile, companies running rigs are not left off the hook here as they will be fined up to 5,000 minimum national wages.

Meanwhile, the report uncovered the punishment people could possibly face which includes public officials or businesses who repeatedly ignore the crypto mining warning:

Committing repeated administrative offense shall command a fine on individual entrepreneurs, citizens or legal entities worth 50 minimum wages for each kilowatt of power spent on crypto mining activities with equipment connected to the power grid, with the said equipment seized. For officials fine amounts to 5,000 minimum wages.

Connecting mining equipment on power grids to a large-scale farm could land anyone in jail for three years accompanied by the seizure of the mining machines.

However, the government also extended what it calls a temporary crypto mining ban until March 31, 2022. The initial ban came into play in December 2018 when an increase in crypto mining activities pushed the region into facing energy crisis.