Officials confiscated substantial quantities of cash and crypto-mining equipment as well.
Tierra del Fuego’s wholesale power cost was raised by 170% in January.
Argentina’s tax collecting agency (AFIP) and the Buenos Aires provincial government said on Thursday that they had detained 40 persons after 70 raids that had shut down an illicit cryptocurrency mining enterprise.
According to the AFIP, they discovered a shed that was being used for cryptocurrency mining. And they confiscated substantial quantities of cash and crypto-mining equipment. As well as a considerable number of video boards together with racks and sources necessary for their connection.
Power Cost Raised by 170%
Furthermore, AFI began investigating crypto companies and conducting raids in September, looking for unlicensed crypto miners around the nation.
In May, BitPatagonia, one of the biggest legal crypto-mining operations in Argentina. Had its power costs rise by a whopping 400%. Industrial director Pablo Holmes said that this was the outcome of a policy shift. That would have an impact on miners in the region.
Moreover, locals say that up to 22 crypto mining enterprises are able to thrive in the freezing temperature of Tierra del Fuego, at Argentina’s southernmost point, where BitPatagonia has its mine. However, the government is not pleased with the energy use of mining corporations. Furthermore, to discourage cryptocurrency mining, Tierra del Fuego’s wholesale power cost was raised by 170% in January.
However, After receiving reports of increased cryptocurrency mining activity, the Argentine government launched an inquiry in December to locate mining firms and quantify their energy use. According to the reports, the intention was for miners to “face the payment of the price of energy equivalent to the cost of supply, being inequitable that they pay the price of a residential user.”