Kosovo police seized another batch of more than 200 mining equipment as part of a raid that began on Thursday. Authorities in Pristina launched an offensive against underground crypto farms after authorities banned electricity-hungry digital currency minting during the country’s energy crisis.

Kosovo authorities confiscate mining hardware in Serb-majority north

Law enforcement officers in Kosovo confiscated hundreds of miners as part of efforts to curb crypto mining activity amid power shortages. One person has been arrested in the latest police operation in the country’s predominantly Serb north.

Authorities seized 272 equipment used to produce cryptocurrencies in the city of Leposavic, according to a statement issued by Kosovo police, AFP reported. “The entire operation took place without incident,” Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla said in a Facebook post.

Finance Minister Hekuran Murati also noted on the social media platform that the estimated monthly consumption of mining equipment is equivalent to the electricity used by 500 households, worth between €60,000 and €120,000 between. Murati also stated:

We cannot allow some people to get rich illegally at the expense of taxpayers.

New seizures have brought the total number of confiscated mining equipment to 342 since raids on miners began earlier this week, interior ministry figures show.Repression begins after Pristina government stop All mining operations on Tuesday, citing growing power shortages in the cold winter months.

Mining crackdown threatens to heighten ethnic tensions

Tensions have been rising between the predominantly ethnic Albanian central government in Kosovo and the Serb majority in four cities in the northern part of the partially recognized republic in southeastern Europe amid the government’s offensive on mining facilities. Serbs do not accept Pristina’s authority and have not paid their electricity bills for more than 20 years since 1998-1999. Kosovo war.

The country’s utilities are still paying their bills with their own revenue, which totaled 12 million euros a year, according to estimates cited by local media. The current energy crisis, exacerbated by insufficient local power generation and rising import prices, has brought the issue to the forefront. Police also carried out two raids in the ethnic Albanian-majority area and seized 70 mining equipment.

Economy Minister Artane Rizvanolli has proposed a crypto mining ban as an urgent step, along with other measures proposed by a special parliamentary committee. However, critics have questioned its legality, as current legislation does not prohibit minting digital currencies. A draft cryptocurrency regulation law submitted to parliament in October has yet to pass.

Do you want the Kosovo authorities to continue cracking down on crypto miners? Share your thoughts on the topic in the comments section below.

Lubomir Tasev

Lubomir Tassev, a journalist from tech-savvy Eastern Europe, likes Hitchens’ famous quote: “Being a writer is who I am, not what I do.” Beyond crypto, blockchain and fintech, international politics and The economy is two other sources of inspiration.