Venezuelan Authorities Reconnect Affected Bitcoin Miners to Power Grid

Venezuelan authorities have reconnected affected bitcoin miners to the power grid in Carabobo state, after having been disconnected for undisclosed causes. Sunacrip, the cryptocurrency watchdog in the country, mediated between the regional power utility authorities and the affected miners, and managed to exert pressure to reconnect these miners, who were disconnected last week.

Venezuelan Bitcoin Miners Reconnected to Power Grid

Venezuelan authorities executed a reconnection operation yesterday for a group of affected bitcoin miners. The miners were reconnected to the national power grid after they were cut off last week without an official explanation. Sunacrip, the national cryptocurrency watchdog, mediated between the affected miners and regional authorities in Carabobo state. This closes the bitcoin miner saga that started last week when all officially registered miners in Carabobo were disconnected by the national power company, Corpoelec.

The reconnection occurred after miners got together with Asonacrip, a private nonprofit organization that works for the promotion of cryptocurrency in the country, and arranged a meeting with Sunacrip. At the meeting — that happened last week — Joselit Ramirez, head of the institution, promised miners they would be operating again in a 48-hour period.

These miners were allegedly disconnected from the power grid due to a power contingency that the region was facing at that time, according to some people familiar with the matter. However, no official explanation has been offered by Corpoelec, the national power company.

Licensed Mining

The meetings with Sunacrip and subsequent reconnection of power to miners only happened because all of the affected miners were registered and acted under the license of Sunacrip, as national laws mandate. However, there are many mining operations that are not licensed and are less resilient to this kind of event.

Until now, several cryptocurrency mining machines have been seized by Venezuelan authorities across the country due to a lack of permits. Sunacrip has been promoting the benefits of mining registration in the country, but there is still opposition due to the distrust that some have in the crypto community toward the government. The occurrence of questionable actions against miners has diminished since Sunacrip established that security authorities could only visit cryptocurrency farms with the presence of one of its officers.