Officials of the Bolivarian National Police (PNB) of Venezuela, attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, seized 165 graphics cards (GPU) that were used for the digital mining of networks such as Ethereum. The operation took place on Thursday, October 21 in a warehouse in the Guatire parish in Miranda state, 40 kilometers away from the capital, Caracas.
According to a police report published on the site official of the agency, the officials acted in conjunction with the National Superintendency of Crypto Assets and Related Activities (Sunacrip), the body that oversees activities with cryptocurrencies. This, after it was discovered that the site operated without the corresponding permission .
The report does not clarify if there were arrests or what type of cryptocurrencies were mined with seized GPUs. However, it follows that with them could have been extracted ether (ETH), the cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network and others that are normally mined with graphics cards.
The agency adds that investigations will continue in order to locate other locations where digital mining is carried out illegally.
As CriptoNoticias has reported, Bitcoin mining in Venezuela is a legal activity since September last year. Although, the license to exercise these activities is mandatory, which is requested through the Comprehensive Registry of Cryptoactive Services (Risec).
While digital mining It is not illegal in Venezuela, there have been irregular episodes against Bitcoin miners and other cryptocurrencies such as, for example, the disconnection of farms that have licenses .
One of these events was reported by this media last July, when officials of the National Electricity Corporation (Corpoelec), for no apparent reason, removed the high voltage fuses of a warehouse in Carabobo state, leaving it inoperative.
Subsequently, the regulatory body for digital mining in Venezuela promised those who carry out the activity that they would not be visited by any authority without the presence of your staff.