Abkhazia’s illegal bitcoin miners face new threat from thieves

Cables connected to a mining rig at a cryptocurrency mining center in Russia. Cryptocurrency miners say Abkhazia has been hit by a wave of burglaries – some of them violent – since authorities banned the power-intensive activity to stem an energy crisis in 2020. — Bloomberg

TBILISI: When Valeri checked the Abkhazia garage where he had set up a small and illegal bitcoin mining operation one autumn morning, he found the door bust open. Thieves had broken in overnight, taking with them 20 mining servers worth about US$10,000 (RM42,130).

“They cleaned up the place completely,” said the 31-year-old from the Black Sea region, who preferred not to use his real name, adding the robbery left him feeling “angry and frustrated”.