Undeclared Argentina Crypto Mining Farm Uncovered During Authorities Raid

The national tax authority of Argentina which is referred to as the Federal Administration of Public Revenues (AFIP) in Spanish has uncovered an undeclared Bitcoin (BTC) mining farm which happened amidst a mega operations raid. Altogether, there have been up to 70 raids and a total arrest of 40 individuals. 

“a material shed allegedly used for mining cryptocurrencies was located, with the layout of a ‘farm’, with a large number of video cards along with the racks and sources required for their connection. At the same time, cables and different types of connectors were found that were presumably used to reduce the high operating costs of the activity by stealing electricity,” the report stated

These arrests were made in conjunction with the government of the Buenos Aires province. Other items were equally retrieved from the mining facility including more than 100 cell phones and SIM cards, cash, cars, firearms, computers, and assorted office equipment such as memory cards, pen drives, flash drives, laminators, guillotines, printers, fake IDs, credit cards and debit cards.

Several Items Retrieved From Crypto Mining Raid

The crypto mining farm which was dismantled allegedly ran its operations with cables that were stolen from the Quilmes party, 12 miles southeast of the city of Buenos Aires.

All their illicit activities were a massive initiative that led to the loss of up to 50 million pesos which is approximately $2.5 million and an additional $2 million. The theft of electricity is still under investigation at the moment and this makes the latest in crypto crackdowns within Argentina. 

Remarkably, AFIP began this crypto mining ransacking operations sometime in September, particularly, in search of unregistered crypto miners. Still, in September, three undeclared crypto-mining sites were discovered by the team. Most of these sites are detected by their high electricity consumption level. 

Meanwhile, questions have cropped up about the legal status of crypto mining in Argentina. In response to most of these questions, a statement  by the nonprofit organization ONG Bitcoin Argentina reiterated that “Cryptocurrency mining is not a crime defined by the criminal code, so it is not an activity that in itself can be considered clandestine or illegal.”

In February, Argentina’s crypto mining fees and expenses jumped by almost four times its previous cost. Also, the town of Sorradino in Argentina is mulling the idea of delving into crypto mining.