Kosovo Bans Bitcoin Mining To Save Energy

Kosovo has banned Bitcoin mining, alongside other emergency measures, to save energy.

The Balkan territory is facing its worst energy crisis in a decade due to production outages, Reuters reported. In December, the Kosovo government declared a 60-day state of emergency to implement energy cost-saving measures.

The Kosovo government is now calling on law enforcement to crack down on locations where cryptocurrencies are being produced.

Reuters previously reported that Kosovars had been taking advantage of cheap electricity costs to mine Bitcoin, which requires a vast amount of computational power. In 2018, it cost residents just $3,000 USD in electricity to mine one bitcoin.

Kosovo joins a growing list of places with bans on cryptocurrencies, in place for a variety of reasons. According to a report from the Law Library of Congress, nine countries — Algeria, Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Nepal, Qatar and Tunisia — have placed an absolute ban on crypto as of November 2021. China extended its crypto ban to include Bitcoin mining earlier this year, while 42 other countries have banned banks, lenders and other financial institutions from dealing with crypto.

In other news, Bitcoin mining has recovered after China’s crackdown.