Venezuelan authorities have escalated their action against bitcoin miners and last Wednesday (12) seized 15,000 machines from 3 warehouses, according to local media.
Journalist Ramón Véliz, from the ImpactoVenezuela portal, was among those who followed the work of the agents in the mine sheds. According to him, the police raid is related to recent corruption cases in the country, linked to Sunacrip.
Agents of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin) and the National Anti-Corruption Police were present at the raid. The operation drew attention, as Sunacrip was responsible for monitoring illegal mining facilities in the country.
“In the past few hours, Sebin employees have raided three warehouses in Yaracuy state. Illegal mining was probably carried out in these places.”
#12Apr #Corruption #Venezuela
In the past few hours, Sebin allanaron officials seized three pilots in Yaracuy state. Illegal mining was probably practiced in these places 📷: @Ramon Veliz pic.twitter.com/TUnOvvW8gq – @ImpactoVE— Report Ya (@ReporteYa) April 12, 2023
Venezuela is escalating tension against the bitcoin mining market
The seizure of 15,000 bitcoin mining machines in three warehouses comes just days after Venezuela began a corruption investigation.
In recent years, to circumvent the embargo imposed on the country by the US, Maduro’s government has resorted to cryptocurrencies to trade internationally. Even the creation of the state-owned cryptocurrency Petro was intended to help the country avoid tensions with the US power.
However, with the leak of a possible corruption case at Sunacrip, what was good was considered bad again within days. This is because since March 2023, the government has started shutting down cryptocurrency exchanges and mining facilities that may be related to the corruption case.
In addition, Sunacrip employees were eventually fired even though they worked for a state-owned cryptocurrency division. It is still unclear where the investigation into the case will go, but the local community is concerned about a growth in measures against the crypto market.
“Clear regulation in Venezuela is a myth,” says the country’s bitcoin professor
The organizer Satoshi and Venezuela, and professor of bitcoin in the project, javier bastardtook to Twitter to vent after noticing an increase in tension in his country.
According to him, the so-called “regulatory clarity in Venezuela” was a self-evident scenario for many years, but the Sunacrip scandals show that everything was nothing more than a myth.
“For years there has been an attempt to sell that “regulatory clarity is good” in Venezuela, but recent events, with Sunacrip – in the midst of a massive corruption scandal – and ALL regulated miners under investigation despite complying with said licenses, show that in Venezuela legal stability is a myth.”
Going forward, he believes many will have to wait for new laws favoring the sector, but he says little should change on the state side as long as the Chavista government remains in power.
Source: Live Coins

Barry Siefert is an accomplished journalist and author at The Nation View. He is known for his expertise in the field of cryptocurrency, and has written extensively on the topic. With a background in finance and economics, Barry has a deep understanding of the underlying technology and market forces that drive the crypto industry.