The Venezuelan government reported the beginning of a plan to disconnect all Bitcoin mining farms that feed into the National Electric System (SEN). This was reported by the Ministry of Electric Energy of Venezuela in a publication on Instagram, where they highlighted that the plan has the support of the National Electric Corporation (Corpoelec) and the Public Ministry (MP) of the Caribbean country. “The purpose is to disconnect all cryptocurrency mining farms in the country from the SEN,” states the publication of the government entity. The announcement came hours after the raid on a Bitcoin mining farm in Maracay, Aragua state, in the interior of the country was reported. The intervention led to the seizure of more than 2,300 ASIC miners, as BitcoinDynamic reported earlier this Friday. It also occurs in a context in which the state authorities of the Caribbean country urged to restrict power supply to Bitcoin mining farms. This is the case of the governor of the state of Carabobo, Rafael Lacava, who together with the Minister of Electric Energy, Jorge Márquezmade the call to reduce the activity of data centers.
The Venezuelan government alleges that the disconnection of Bitcoin mining farms responds to the high electrical consumption of these centers. Which has led to recurring power failures in the places surrounding these mining facilities. According to the Ministry of Electric Energy, the disconnection “will avoid the high impact on demand, allowing us to continue offering an efficient and reliable service to all the Venezuelan people.” It is unclear whether Bitcoin miners operating without being connected to the national electrical grid can maintain their operations. And it is that Restrictions have also been imposed on these. In September 2023, a miner who was allegedly not connected to the SEN was raided and 800 machines were seized, as BitcoinDynamic reported. Now, despite the Venezuelan government's claims, the elimination of mining farms Bitcoin occurs amid strong regulatory uncertainty, caused by the intervention of the National Superintendency of Cryptoactives (Sunacrip). That body, in charge of regulating the mining industry in Venezuela, was the subject of state intervention in March 2023, after it was accused of participating in a multimillion-dollar government corruption scheme called PDVSA-Cripto. According to the investigations of the Venezuelan State, this plot led to the theft of more than USD 16,000 million. It is presumed that the plot's representatives They sold oil illegally and payments were converted into crypto assets to make them difficult to trace. The Venezuelan attorney general, Tarek William Saab, says that as a result of ill-gotten money, those who were part of the plot installed Bitcoin mining farms. Some of them, already seized by the State.