Illegal Bitcoin Miners in Abandoned School Pool Seized by Ukrainian Police
200 bitcoin miners set up in a closed university pool were seized by investigators in Ukraine earlier this week.
Apparently, the school did not sanction the mining operation. It is unknown how long it ran undiscovered. Police have made an arrest in the case. The charges include unauthorized use of state facilities, including theft of electricity to run the mining hardware.
not the actual miners from the school pool :/
Perhaps more interesting, the authorities seem to be claiming that bitcoin mining itself is illegal in Ukraine, citing the country's National Bank law. According to [a Google Translate of] the law, only the national bank can issue currency and only national bank currency may be used in Ukraine.
"Issue and circulation in the territory of Ukraine of other monetary units and the use of money surrogates as a means of payment is prohibited."
The law does not define "money surrogates", but in this case they seem to be claiming that bitcoin qualifies. Application of the law seems selective at best, however; many retailers in Ukraine accept bitcoin as a form of payment in the course of daily business. Using this narrow interpretation of the law would mean that accepting bitcoin as payment for anything is criminal behavior.
This could establish a dangerous legal precedent that could stifle (though not stop) Ukraine's participation in the global crypto economy. Prosecutors should drop the currency charges before trial to avoid that harm.
Check out these other recent posts from me:
bitcoint now is 3600 omg people speaking bitcoin going 6000 $
thnx for share @olyup
Hahaha... you have to admire their cheek... it doesn't seem right to drop all charges, and yet its easy for anyone to see the potential for this episode to damage the country's participation in the bitcoin market. Although my experience in life is that if authorities dont like something, they will find a way to turn public opinion against it, and these people have given them a golden opportunity... a school has to be one of the places anyone would least like to see intruders of any kind. But if the case is dropped then authorities are seen to be supporting crime as well as bitcoin. And if they dont want it, they will soon find another way to stifle it. Lets face it, bitcoin and bad press seem to stay close together. Upvoted - its an interesting basis for discussion and will be interesting to return and see what others think. Meanwhile I'm goinf to follow your link and see what I can't live without...
Thanks for sharing . Informative post!
If the Ukrainian Police want to get rid those filthy stinking Bitcoin Mining Machines, they can send them all to me. I'll look after them, lol.
lol wow thats a huge operation to not know about for over a year rofl.