Last week, the Argentine tax authorities (AFIP), discovered three distinct clandestine crypto mining farms. They were both located in San Juan as well as in Cordoba. These farms were home to more than $600,000. The high power usage helped track them.
Argentine Tax Authority Identifies Three Clandestine Crypto Mining Facilities
The Argentine tax authority, AFIP has been watching the illegal mining of cryptocurrency and already discovered three cryptocurrency farms. The two farms found in Cordoba and the one in San Juan were the first. Because a company was importing mining equipment without a license, the last farm was identified by the group.
Two farms located in Cordoba were found due to the large power consumption required to run them. Authorities claim that the mines used 85,000 kilowatts each month. This was at $7,000. The farms were operated by one company that had undeclared benefits exceeding $200,000 and $600,000.
In an operation in San Juan Province, the Argentine tax authority detected the cryptocurrency address which was used in the mining. It was found in a refrigerator designed for fruit storage. The AFIP stated in an official statement:
The company that was disowned had conducted 474 transactions on the Ethereum (ETH), virtual currency datachain from January 31 through date. They had received 137.25 Units of this asset which is equivalent to $217,000 which hadn’t been declared.
Mining boom in Argentina
Analysts believe that mining cryptocurrency is a very lucrative industry in Argentina because of the availability of cheap, stable energy and high speed internet. This is what has made Argentina attractive to international crypto companies looking to set up operations in Argentina.
Bitfarms is one of them. Bitfarms is a Nasdaq listed mining conglomerate. It is currently building a mega-farm in the country, which will be able to power 55,000 miner, and expand its mining capabilities to reach 8 EH/s by the end.
In February however, the country started to remove the subsidy for electricity for crypto mining companies. Cammesa the energy wholesaler increased power fees by fourfold.
How do you feel about three anonymous cryptocurrency mining operations being discovered in Argentina? Comment below.
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