01 January 2025, 18:40
Chechen MP Delimkhanov threatens to treat illegal crypto miners as terrorists
Russian State Duma member Adam Delimkhanov has claimed that illegal cryptocurrency miners who create problems with the power supply of districts and cities in Chechnya will be treated as terrorists.
The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that the Russian authorities approved the introduction of a ban on cryptocurrency mining in six republics of North Caucasus starting from January 1. According to the economists’ estimates, cryptocurrency mining in the regions of North Caucasus with low electricity tariffs results in high loads on the power grid.
Adam Delimkhanov, the first deputy chair of the Russian State Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption, is also the head of the operational headquarters of Chechnya for the development of regional electric power. He has warned residents of the republic that if a case of illegal cryptocurrency mining is detected, those responsible will be severely punished. Adam Delimkhanov has noted that he voiced the warning to residents of the republic at a request from Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, the RIA “Novosti” news agency reports.
“We will equate them with terrorists, since their actions harm the whole society,” the RIA “Novosti” news agency quotes Adam Delimkhanov as stating.
In the period from 2025 until March 15, 2031, a complete ban on cryptocurrency mining will be introduced, among other regions, also in Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, North Ossetia, and Chechnya. The purpose of the restrictions is to balance energy consumption taking into account the needs of industrial enterprises.
In April 2021, the Ingush Council of Alims (scholars of Islamic doctrine and law, – note of the “Caucasian Knot”) banned Muslims from buying and selling cryptocurrencies due to the lack of legislative guarantees for their owners.
The problem with cryptocurrency mining is also relevant in the countries of South Caucasus, in particular, in Abkhazia. The phenomenon of cryptocurrency mining provokes an acute shortage of electricity in the republic. Local residents believe that most of the cryptocurrency mining farms are being controlled by officials, and in protest they refuse to pay for electricity. That exacerbates the energy crisis. Cryptocurrency mining has become in Abkhazia a business for influential people affiliated with top-ranking officials.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 30, 2024 at 05:33 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Source: Caucasian Knot
