Ukrainian government agency caught minen from bitcoin

On Friday, Ukrzaliznytsya, a state-owned rail transport company in Ukraine, announced that the Lviv railway unit illegally mined bitcoins. The unit has used improper electricity from the state-owned company. They have more than a hundred mining devices connected to mine bitcoins.

One hundred devices

Allegedly the state-paid mining farm (a collection of miners) was discovered by the Ukrzaliznytsia security department and by local prosecutors. They found a building full of equipment:

100 mining devices found in Ukraine

Missed electricity costs in 2019 estimated at 37,000 euros

The message was first shared on the official website of the Ukrainian government. This report also states that the estimated amount of energy losses this year amounts to 37,000 euros. Since the issuance and circulation of cryptos on Ukrainian territory is prohibited, criminal proceedings have also been initiated for the case. Ukrzaliznytsya says they have sent all information about the violation to the national police.

Crypto minerals not forbidden, but also not entirely legal

The mining of cryptocurrency is not fully regulated in Ukraine, but the industry is subject to a number of different investigations. In August 2019, the Ukrainian security service arrested employees of power plants for illegal mining in a local nuclear power plant. Also members of the police in Ukraine are reportedly caught while mining cryptocurrency at work.

But there is also positive news. It has been officially announced that the Ukrainian authorities are going to talk to exchange Binance. The grant will help Ukraine to draft legislation on cryptocurrency. Although help, this actually looks more like lobbying, but then pro-crypto. Bitcoin is not currently banned in the country, but it is located in a gray area like in many other countries. It doesn’t even have official status. There is still little regulation and the country wants to change this.

Boom, nice timing! Just a few hours ago, $ UAH deposit and withdrawals are enabled on @binance. Buy / Sell or crypto using $ UAH will be enabled tomorrow.

Check it out #Ukraine! ?????? https://t.co/RPcrfyp3iF

– CZ Binance (@cz_binance) November 6, 2019