Abkhazia Cuts Off Power to 15 Crypto Mining Farms

The amount of electricity consumption of crypto mining firms has become the subject of concern for many regulators. A quite unrecognized Republic of Abkhazia has cut power to some of the cryptocurrency mining farms considering the electricity issues. The declaration was made by state electric utility Chernomorenergo RUE.

Abkhazia is an 8,660 sq km republic having a population of around 240,000. It is recognized as an independent state by Russia and other nations but is considered by the United Nations to be part of the Central Asian nation of Georgia.

Reportedly, Abkhazian’s electricity providers previously stated that “transmission lines and substations are loaded to capacity” because of the cryptocurrency mining farms in the region. As announced, the government of Abkhazia cut power to 15 facilities with a total capacity of 8,950 kilowatt-hours (kWh), which is equivalent to the electricity consumption of 1,800 households. Chernomorenergo noted that the step was taken as part of a series of “temporary measures to limit the consumption of electricity by certain categories of subscribers.” He added that owners of the mining farms are collaborative and understanding.

The government has confirmed that the electricity can be revoked once power companies give their consent. Power companies are also disallowed to provide excess electricity to mining ventures. Moreover, Abkhazia is moving forward to draft cryptocurrency and mining-related legislation, considering the requirement to provide a legal framework for regulations in the republic.

Looking at the electricity demand, the Chelan County Public Utility District of the state of Washington recommended a new electricity pricing system for cryptocurrency miners in order to deal with the cost of increased electricity demand. The rate structure is designed in a way that captures the cost and protects the investment for the customers that are already part of our system.

In the initial six months of 2018, Bitcoin miner revenues had crossed the results of 2017. Although, miners themselves witnessed very little profit. Eventually, the rewards and fees for BTC miners had already touched $4.7 billion in the first three quarters of 2018.

In December, Chinese miners emerged as the most significant short sellers of Bitcoin on the international level In December.

Ruti Vora

Ruti regularly contributes in-depth news articles for leading cryptocurrencies. She contributes technical chart-based price updates and analysis pieces on the world's leading digital currencies.

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