Venezuela bans crypto mining to protect power grid

[TomPluz]

More on this here.

The Venezuelan government has joined the list of countries that have frowned on crypto mining due to its hefty electricity demands.

According to a local news outlet, Venezuela’s Ministry of Electric Power has unveiled plans to disconnect cryptocurrency mining farms from the national grid. The move aims to regulate excessive energy consumption and guarantee a stable power supply for the population.

This move follows a recent crackdown involving the confiscation of 2,000 cryptocurrency mining devices in the city of Maracay as part of an anti-corruption initiative.

So Venezuela has become one of the countries that is banning cryptocurrency mining, along with China and Kazakhstan. And I think we should understand that the reason for this is that Venezuela has a real, big problem with its power supply though it is supposed to be so rich in oil and has been one of the top exporting gas supplier for the world. Due to economic mismanagement, things spiraled to its gloomy situation right now, years after the death of Hugo Chávez. This move by Venezuela can mean opportunity for other Latin countries willing to take mining business into their land.

[Lucius]

I remember that a few years ago the price of mining was the most favorable in that country, but that the real problem was that there were frequent power cuts or that the electrical infrastructure was just very bad. Whatever it was, mining was not really something people in that country should be doing, not only for the aforementioned reasons, but also because every day someone can (legally) knock on your door and confiscate all your equipment.

Maybe people in that country should think about alternative sources of energy such as the sun and wind, so even though these are not sources that can always produce energy, at least they would be off the grid and off the government's radar.

[robelneo]

This is expected from a country who do not have enough electricity to supply to its population so if you're a miner think first about the condition of your country if its energy is too much your government will one-day ban Cryptocurrency mining, now that the Venezuelan ban it, I expect some miners to go underground to continue their mining activity.

[Gurujebs]

So Venezuela has become one of the countries that is banning cryptocurrency mining, along with China and Kazakhstan. And I think we should understand that the reason for this is that Venezuela has a real, big problem with its power supply though it is supposed to be so rich in oil and has been one of the top exporting gas supplier for the world. Due to economic mismanagement, things spiraled to its gloomy situation right now, years after the death of Hugo Chávez. This move by Venezuela can mean opportunity for other Latin countries willing to take mining business into their land.

It seems the country is generating low power and the electricity is nothing to take most home appliances but it's okay if they don't chase them out and Ban bitcoin, they should have allow then stay and then increase tax on them, it's going to be a win win for the country and the miners and the miner that doesn't want comply can just exit without wishing any thing.

The government needs to be considerate sometimes, chasing monitor and investors with when they need more source of tax is crazy. They could have even make it 50:50 so the country will earn more taxex from mining without telling the public.

[Rruchi man]

now that the Venezuelan ban it, I expect some miners to go underground to continue their mining activity.

If you're a miner in Venezuela, this new development will not be easily acceptable to you, but I will not advise you to go against the government and try to do your mining activities illegally. If it is possible, I advise that you relocate out of the country if you must continue your activities because if you are caught mining bitcoin in the country even after the government has declared it illegal, your equipment will be confiscated, and you may face serious charges.

[Faisal2202]

Due to economic mismanagement, things spiraled to its gloomy situation right now, years after the death of Hugo Chávez. This move by Venezuela can mean opportunity for other Latin countries willing to take mining business into their land.

Venezuela was considered a haven for BTC and every other crypto miner as due to the cheap electricity there, but some bad actors doing illicit activities (corruption) now have eliminated a source of lot of innocent people who were doing nothing wrong. I mean 2000 devices is not a big deal that you (authorities) planned to ban it. They should impose some taxes considering the amount of devices one owns, or the profit one makes. I mean we will call it progressive tax I think.

This is not good news for many miners, they might find it hard to move there devices to another place or find another source of energy. I say the Venezuelan authorities did made a good choice at the moment, as they prefer to stable the electricity and many miner might be overusing and wasting it. Its a good initiative if seen from citizens angle They will get more supply now I hope.

[Baofeng]

I thought that Venezuela has a lot of oil and oil reserves and it can fuel their electric grid for a long time. So why they have problems with electricity though? I'm no expert, but I don't understand why a country with a lot of oil is suffering from lack of electricity.

And isn't it mining is legal to them?

https://news.bitcoin.com/venezuela-passes-law-legalizing-crypto-mining-forces-miners-to-join-national-mining-pool/

So I guess their intention is to crackdown illegal mining, and for sure there are some who are mining underground or could be stealing electricity from the government and that is their target here not crypto mining companies that they have regulated.

[NotATether]

I thought that Venezuela has a lot of oil and oil reserves and it can fuel their electric grid for a long time. So why they have problems with electricity though? I'm no expert, but I don't understand why a country with a lot of oil is suffering from lack of electricity.

The reason why the country is so crippled economically is because it has no way to process any of those oil reserves and sell them or convert them into electricity on a large scale.

You can blame US sanctions for that.

Also that explains why Venezuela president has wanted to invade some neighboring countries like Guyana that have lots of oil reserves, to get access to liquid assets that can be sold easily for case.

[MUGNIA]

now that the Venezuelan ban it, I expect some miners to go underground to continue their mining activity.

If you're a miner in Venezuela, this new development will not be easily acceptable to you, but I will not advise you to go against the government and try to do your mining activities illegally. If it is possible, I advise that you relocate out of the country if you must continue your activities because if you are caught mining bitcoin in the country even after the government has declared it illegal, your equipment will be confiscated, and you may face serious charges.

but not all bitcoin mining is illegal,
Am I getting the wrong information?
Moving countries is not a solution in my opinion, the best solution is to create your own electricity, for example from wind, sun, maybe even river currents.

[Stompix]

I thought that Venezuela has a lot of oil and oil reserves and it can fuel their electric grid for a long time. So why they have problems with electricity though?

Yup, because not only do they have huge oil reserves but they also have a lot of socialism.
And how history has shown us a hundred times already you can have everything in this world, no matter how wealthy you are socialism will ruin you.

The reason why the country is so crippled economically is because it has no way to process any of those oil reserves and sell them or convert them into electricity on a large scale.
You can blame US sanctions for that.
Also that explains why Venezuela president has wanted to invade some neighboring countries like Guyana that have lots of oil reserves, to get access to liquid assets that can be sold easily for case.

Actually it doesn't explain it at all, since they can't process their own oil why do they go for another oil deposit?
And sanctions have nothing to do with it, what stops them from buying and constructing their own refineries like 100 other countries have done so?

Besides, since we talk about those sanctions, what actually are those sanctions, the US refusing to buy Veneuela oil, that's all, you know that CitGo gas stations are owned and operated by PDVSA, owned by the Venezuelan government, 4000 gas stations operating in the US with a revenue of 20 billions from American customers, so, what sanctions? 
It's corruption, incompetence and socialism, not sanctions.

[Lucius]

Yup, because not only do they have huge oil reserves but they also have a lot of socialism.
And how history has shown us a hundred times already you can have everything in this world, no matter how wealthy you are socialism will ruin you.
~snip~

I was in that story, so I know, but even if socialism "died" a long time ago, it seems to me that some politicians and their children who were brought up in that spirit still like to practice it - of course I'm referring to some EU countries. If you live in a country that could be heaven on earth, has enough resources to feed at least 20 million people, and is not self-sufficient in anything, then you wonder if they just lied to us that socialism no longer exists?

[Baofeng]

I thought that Venezuela has a lot of oil and oil reserves and it can fuel their electric grid for a long time. So why they have problems with electricity though? I'm no expert, but I don't understand why a country with a lot of oil is suffering from lack of electricity.

The reason why the country is so crippled economically is because it has no way to process any of those oil reserves and sell them or convert them into electricity on a large scale.

You can blame US sanctions for that.

Also that explains why Venezuela president has wanted to invade some neighboring countries like Guyana that have lots of oil reserves, to get access to liquid assets that can be sold easily for case.

Yeah, probably the US sanction really hurt this country and I do agree that socialism also put a damp on this rich nation. Previous administrations in the late 1990's, mis-management and then the end of it all, printing money, pay for endless state programs unsurprisingly led to high rates of inflation.

So everything was wrong in the beginning and it got worse and worse to the point that now they have to ban crypto mining.

And it will take decades for this country to recover.

[yhiaali3]

Unfortunately, a country that has huge oil resources like Venezuela cannot invest its resources optimally. I do not know why they have problems with the electrical grid with all these large resources.

Mostly, the reason is mismanagement, which causes major problems in the economy, and in countries with a socialist system, government corruption is often widespread and the country’s resources are wasted due to corruption, theft, and government mismanagement.

Like here in my country, they blame all their failure on American and Western sanctions.