Venezuela dismantles 4,000-ASIC Bitcoin farm

Venezuelan authorities say the May 18 raid in Maracay was one of the country’s largest recent actions against bitcoin mining, with officials reporting about 4,000 ASIC machines at a single site. State-linked outlet AVN and crypto news site CriptoNoticias said the farm operated in the San Vicente industrial zone in Aragua state and was dismantled by a joint force that included police, military and energy officials. Authorities said the installation was drawing between 8 and 10 megawatts from the grid and described it as an illegal operation. ### Where was the mining farm and what did officials say they found? Maracay, the capital of Aragua state in central Venezuela, was identified by officials as the location of the site. CriptoNoticias reported the farm was housed in the Zona Industrial de San Vicente and contained roughly 4,000 application-specific integrated circuit, or ASIC, machines, most of them identified as MicroBT Whatsminer M30S units. The same report said authorities also found industrial cooling systems at the facility. (avn.info.ve) State-linked outlet Mazo4F, citing a government release, said the inventory was preliminary and included approximately 4,000 ASIC devices plus industrial ventilation and cooling equipment. That account said the operation was carried out under “Operation Hunter,” a state security deployment focused on illegal mining in Aragua. ### Which agencies took part in the operation? The Cuerpo de Investigaciones Científicas, Penales y Criminalísticas, or CICPC, was identified as the lead executing body in the operation. (criptonoticias.com) CriptoNoticias said the inspection was coordinated with REDI Central, ZODI Aragua and the Bolivarian National Guard, while Mazo4F said the Ministry of Electric Energy also participated. Joana Sánchez, governor of Aragua, and Deputy Energy Minister Vianney Rojas were present at the site, according to CriptoNoticias. (mazo4f.com) Mazo4F said the operation was conducted under instructions attributed in the government release to acting President Delcy Rodríguez. ### Why did authorities say the site was targeted? The 8-to-10-megawatt power draw was central to the government’s account of the raid. (criptonoticias.com) CriptoNoticias said officials argued the facility was causing a “significant impact” on the national electricity system, while Mazo4F said the site’s load created instability that damaged protection systems on the grid. Those claims were made by authorities; the reports reviewed did not include an independent technical assessment. The raid came less than two weeks after Venezuela’s Ministry of Electric Energy reaffirmed a nationwide ban on bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining. CriptoNoticias reported on May 7 that the ministry said the prohibition would remain in force as part of measures to protect the national electricity system after demand reached 15,579 megawatts. ### Why does the 10-megawatt figure matter? (criptonoticias.com) A 10-megawatt load is large enough to make the site notable even by industrial standards. With about 4,000 machines reported on site, the official estimate implies average power use of roughly 2 to 2.5 kilowatts per machine, a range consistent with older-generation bitcoin mining hardware such as the Whatsminer M30 series. That comparison is an inference based on the reported machine count and total load. (criptonoticias.com) The reported hardware mix also helps explain why officials emphasized cooling systems. ASIC fleets of that size typically require industrial ventilation to run continuously, and both CriptoNoticias and Mazo4F said such systems were present at the warehouse. ### What comes next in Venezuela’s crackdown? May 7 is the clearest marker for what follows. The ministry’s reaffirmed ban was paired with a supervision plan to detect and punish illegal mining, according to reports on the government move, and the Maracay raid appears to be part of that enforcement cycle. (criptonoticias.com) Recent seizures suggest the Maracay case may not be isolated. (criptonoticias.com) CriptoNoticias reported another operation on May 13 in Los Teques, Miranda state, where authorities said they confiscated 70 ASIC machines. That earlier case also cited the May 7 ban as the legal basis for enforcement. (criptonoticias.com 1) (criptonoticias.com 2)