coinspress.com
Authorities and police have targeted crypto mining in a Serb-dominated municipality in northern Kosovo, conducting searches and seizing unregistered hardware used to generate virtual currency.
According to reports, Kosovo police confiscated dozens of cryptocurrency mining devices, and unpaid electricity and water invoices in the region exceed €300 million.
According to a spokeswoman for Kosovo’s customs department, officials have seized approximately 700 graphic processing units (GPUs) and 336 high-speed Antminers with an estimated worth of slightly over 167,000 euros between January 1, 2022, and March 31, 2022.
To curb the issue of unremunerated electricity consumption, in 2021 the Kosovo government declared a short-term prohibition on cryptocurrency mining.
Additionally, the authorities have initiated a clampdown on illicitly imported equipment.
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These actions can potentially increase tensions in the ethnically split Balkan state, with authorities in Pristina and Belgrade already trading barbs over it.
Meanwhile, the global cryptocurrency mining market is expected to expand significantly, with Precedence Research projecting a CAGR of 12.90% between 2023 and 2032, reaching a value of $7 billion in 2032.