The Venezuelan government has announced a nationwide ban on cryptocurrency mining, arguing that this activity results in significant consumption of electricity and hence undermines the stability of the state’s power system which should provide energy to the population. In the wake of this operation, the police officials have seized 2,000 mining devices worth of cryptocurrency in the town of Maracay, Aragua state. The Minister of Energy (MPPPE) has come up with plans to correlate the energy consumption of mining farms and the national grid so as to curb extensive energy consumption.
Addressing Energy Stability
The way to do that is what gives the decision about the ban on crypto mining in Venezuela on the basis of giving it cheap and uninterrupted electricity. For about a decade now, one of the major problems antagonizing the life of the residents as well as the economy has been the persistent power outages especially from 2019 “Some measures in this context are essential to stabilize the country’s national power supply,” representatives from the Ministry of Energy insisted. However, the National Association of Cryptocurrencies made a statement providing a different perspective on this issue in saying that prohibition of the crypto-mining industry prioritizes energy stability over burgeoning industry.
Anti-Corruption Force and Authority of the Public
It should be noted, however, that this clampdown on crypto mining is one of the components of a larger anti-corruption campaign which has ended up in the arrest of certain top officials including new ex-head of Sunacrip Joselit Ramírez. Rafael Lacava, State Governor of Carabobo, appeals to all individuals to act as informants and report any illegal operations they may find. He prompted the citizens to report suspicions of any illegal activities, as he underlined the community’s fundamental nature of upholding the reliability of the electric power.
A Global Trend
In the light of Venezuela, other developing nations are not left behind in implementing the tough regulations against cryptocurrency mining. China together with Kazakhstan or some other countries are trying to use regulations and even prohibitions to ensure protection of power capacities and provision of energy services only for the public needs. On the 7th of March 2023, the country’s energy supplier, had instructed to the off crypto mining facilities throughout the entire national territory to rearrange the national crypto department facing corruption investigations by the country’s oil company. Attorney General Tarek William Saab claimed an alleged parallel operation of oil market between state officials and the national crypto department being previously reported.
The higher levels of the world-wide cryptocurrency mining supervision reveal that the latest step of Venezuela is an illustration of the complicated relationship between technical advance, energy use, and governance.