ChainCatcher news, according to Cryptonews, the police of Dagestan, Russia, in conjunction with energy officials, conducted a raid on an underground cryptocurrency mining hideout located in Makhachkala, discovering 17 mining devices. A video released by the cabinet shows these devices operating in a small space several meters underground.Officials stated that the mining site was operated by "electricity thieves," and miners have begun establishing underground mines and mobile mining units in multiple locations.Additionally, these illegal mining activities caused a fire at the local 110 kV Novaya substation, resulting in power outages in parts of the capital for several days. The government will allocate approximately 3 billion rubles (about 32.5 million USD) for the repair of the damaged energy facilities.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, Bitcoin mining company CleanSpark announced on Tuesday that it has acquired two Bitcoin mining sites and related land near Clinton, Mississippi. According to the press release, the total purchase price is $5.775 million.The expected completion date for the mining site is December 1, and S21 pro miners will be installed, with an expected total hash rate of approximately 1 EH (exahashes) per second. The addition of these sites will bring CleanSpark's total data center capacity in Mississippi to 60.5 megawatts.

ChainCatcher news, according to CryptoSlate, Thai authorities raided an illegal Bitcoin (BTC) mining site in Ratchaburi, west of Bangkok, on Friday. The raid occurred after some residents in the area complained about frequent power outages for over a month.According to Chanwong, records indicate that the raided house consumed an unusually large amount of electricity. However, the residents did not pay for most of the consumed electricity. During the raid, police and officials from the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) found that most of the mining equipment had already been relocated.No one was arrested during the raid, marking the fourth raid by authorities on illegal Bitcoin mines in the area.

ChainCatcher news, according to News.bitcoin, David Fischer, the manager of a Bitcoin mining facility owned by the publicly traded company Marathon Digital, has been found not guilty.Previously, over 40 residents near the facility complained about the high noise levels emitted by the mining operations. According to Hood County officer John Shirley, noise levels measured around the facility exceeded 85 decibels. This level of noise can be harmful and may lead to public health issues. The mining facility is located in Texas and is one of the least remote facilities managed by the company.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bitcoin.com, Bitcoin mining company Greenidge Generation Holdings Inc. has established a new Bitcoin mining facility in Mississippi to expand its Bitcoin mining operations.The facility officially went live on July 1, 2024, with 2,400 Bitcoin mining machines, and is expected to further increase its capacity in the coming months.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bitcoin.com, Paraguayan Senator Salyn Buzarquis has severely criticized the National Electricity Administration of Paraguay (ANDE), claiming that its senior officials accept bribes to allow illegal Bitcoin mining operations to run unchecked. Salyn Buzarquis stated that these unnamed officials receive bribes of up to $500,000 per month and called for ANDE President Felix Sosa to resign or be questioned about the matter.ANDE issued a statement denying these allegations and emphasized that the country's companies have been harmed in their efforts to combat energy theft. The statement claimed: "This agency is characterized by its proactive stance against such punishable behaviors (especially illegal mining operations for cryptocurrency)."

ChainCatcher news, according to Bitcoin.com, employees of the National Electricity Administration of Paraguay (ANDE) have been accused of directly participating in the establishment of illegal Bitcoin mining farms in Paraguay. Seven engineers employed by ANDE will be involved in organizing illegal connections to provide electricity for Bitcoin operations in Paraguay.ANDE's director, Felix Sosa, clarified that the agency's internal audit department is conducting a verification and organizational investigation of the organization. All relevant information will be submitted to the National Prosecutor's Office for further investigation. However, Sosa stated that employees of the national electricity company have not been responsible for executing electrical connections for some time and have delegated this function to third-party contractors.Since December of last year, ANDE has been fighting against illegal Bitcoin mining connections and has cut off power to more than 70 mining farms that were drawing unmetered electricity directly from the grid.

ChainCatcher news, Bitcoin mining company CleanSpark announced the acquisition of five Bitcoin mining sites located in Georgia, USA, for $25.8 million in cash, with a total power capacity of 60 megawatts (MW).It is reported that CleanSpark plans to deploy its previously ordered Antminer S21 Pro mining machines at these sites, expecting to add 3.7 EH/s of computing power once fully installed. CleanSpark is the third largest publicly traded Bitcoin mining company in the United States, having achieved approximately 17 EH/s of computing power as of May, and operates around 300MW of mining sites in Georgia.

ChainCatcher news, Hut 8 announced that Chief Business Officer Matt Prusak will leave on January 31. The company will take over five mining sites from Celsius located in Texas and provide "end-to-end management services." Matt Prusak will serve as the CEO of the relevant mining sites.It is reported that Hut 8 has signed a four-year agreement with Celsius, committing to pay an annual management fee of $20 million "in addition to the new company's restricted stock and incentive equity." It is said that Celsius invested hundreds of millions of dollars in building mining equipment before its bankruptcy, and its Texas mining sites have a mining capacity of 12 exahash (EH/s).

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, Bitcoin mining company CleanSpark will acquire two mining facilities in Georgia for $9.3 million in cash. These facilities will house over 6,000 Bitmain Antminer S19 XP and S19J Pro+ mining machines, expected to generate 1EH/s of hash power. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, after filing for bankruptcy protection, Bitcoin mining company Core Scientific may sell up to 1 gigawatt of its under-construction mining facilities. Core Scientific's Chief Mining Officer Russell Cann stated that the likelihood of selling operational assets is close to zero, but the possibility of selling under-development mining facilities that have power, land, and substations is quite high.Core Scientific will continue to operate normally, and the company's mining and hosting businesses are both profitable. Core Scientific is currently the largest company in the industry, with a mining power of approximately 800 to 850 megawatts. The mining facilities it may sell are expected to go online in 2023, with mining power of up to 1 gigawatt.According to previous reports, Core Scientific filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Texas, USA, on the morning of the 21st local time, and plans to convert most of its debt into equity. (Source link)