Cryptocurrency mining in Venezuela
Recently, the illegal seizure of Bitcoin mining machines in Venezuela has been reported. Around 500 machines have been seized in the most notorious cases so far in 2021. Mining in Venezuela has become incredibly popular considering that the electricity service in Venezuela is the cheapest in the region, it is estimated that the payment of kilowatt per hour is less than a penny of the dollar, but also the electricity service infrastructure is the most deficient in the region due to the constant blackouts and failures that exist nationwide.
I will tell you the overview of the legality of bitcoin mining in Venezuela and the recent events of the seizure of mining machines.
In Venezuela one of the alternatives is Bitcoin, the citizens of the country use it to protect and take care of the local currency, which is the sovereign bolivar. And as far as mining is concerned, in Venezuela there is SUNACRIP, which is the national superintendency of crypto assets and related activities.
SUNACRIP was created in 2018 by multiple factors. One of these is to stop illegal mining and regulate machine sales, keep track of miners in Venezuela. One of the articles of the law issued by SUNACRIP is based on the creation of a comprehensive registry of miners carried by a SUNACRIP web application.The RIM, as its acronym says, allows users to generate users the licenses to be obtained in order to operate in the country.
That is, it focuses on giving licenses in a period of 20 days so that miners can work legally in the country. SUNACRIP is basically in charge of the national mining pool, and aims to bring together all users in the country in order to streamline the blockchain. The mining pool directs the level of profitability of the state machines and miners.
SUNACRIP also determines that the user who does not connect to the national mining pool AND is not registered by the RIM, will be sanctioned by the competent bodies. Many miners avoid registering with SUNACRIP, since this body forces them to pay various taxes related to Bitcoins mining.
Sometimes miners who are not registered on the platform can go to jail or have their machines seized. Cryptocurrency mining in Venezuela is clandestine in a nutshell, due to the currency control that exists in the country since 2003. In mid-2017 there were several seizures of equipment to mine cryptocurrencies by the Bolivarian national armed force, adding money laundering or computer crime, and recently many miners have been forced to register in the SUNACRIP system, and in this way they cannot confiscate the machines, even having a legal framework that should inspire tranquility for miners in Venezuela, multiple are the complaints that are made on social networks for the illegal confiscation by the state body of miners.
This has led many to drive clandestinely. One of the most notorious cases in the media was the seizure of 76 computers in Bolívar state in April 2021, or the 400 computers seized in June 2021 in the Portuguese state. This forces miners to work clandestinely through the bureaucratic procedures required to obtain licenses to mine cryptocurrencies in Venezuela. The trust of the institutions towards the miners is vital for the miners to continue with their activity and currently the only institution that in any way provides trust to the miners is the SUNACRIP, since it is in charge of the entire legal framework that support the practice of mining in the country.
Illegal confiscations are a common practice in Venezuela today, performing these mining practices It has more cons than pros, added to the fact that the electrical service is deficient, Seizures of cryptocurrency mining machines continue to be made to people who have not renewed the license issued by SUNACRIP, which makes Venezuela a very risky place to mine cryptocurrencies.
This is one of those many issues that in our country is full of cobwebs and cumbersome paths, without having a reason, but all currencies can be strengthened, there is an exponential growth of mining and should be allowed with all the law.
thank you for informing
That's right, my friend, the problem is the control that you want to obtain the authorizations over what you generate.
hi @josegma96, country like ours is not yet in a position to build cryptocurrency farms, because both the national electric service and access to fuel for power plants is failing. This can generate even more power failures.
Anyway, many people practice cryptocurrency mining
This is something very strange the whole world is looking for bitcoin to be legal tender , banning for mining is not a good decision. Their should be some law regarding that that you have to pay tax etc etc so that people can mine easily now this will increase the Chance of more illigal activities.
Governments just want to control