Argentinian Officials Swoop on Illegal BTC Mining Farm in ‘Luxury Apartments’

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Tim Alper

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Tim Alper

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Tim Alper is a British journalist and features writer who has worked at Cryptonews.com since 2018. He has written for media outlets such as the BBC, the Guardian, and Chosun Ilbo. He has also worked...

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June 25, 2023

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The Argentinian tax body’s crackdown on unregistered crypto mining is expanding to residential properties. Officers shut down an illegal Bitcoin (BTC) mining farm in a “high-end” block of apartments in an upscale part of La Plata, Buenos Aires Province.

Earlier this month, the tax body – known locally as the AFIP – swooped on a livestock and cereal farm, where it found some $20 million worth of coin-mining equipment.

But the latest bust saw officers raid the apartment, where they said they found functioning and unregistered bitcoin mining rigs connected to the internet. The rigs, the AFIP said, had been concealed inside a “container” that was hidden on the complex’s terrace.

Officers stated that the hardware comprised some 180 “video cards used for Bitcoin mining.” They claimed the equipment’s market value was “more than $45,000,000.” They also claimed that the crypto mining rigs had been operational “for more than eight months” before they were discovered.

The farm’s mastermind appears to have been the complex’s owner, with the tax body stating that the “property’s owner” was “being investigated.”

But the AFIP found that the power points on the terrace had been registered “in the name of a third party”, a “maneuver that helped the farm’s concealment,” Ambito reported.

The raid was conducted in conjunction with the La Plata Regional Directorate of the General Tax Directorate.

Crackdown on Unregistered Argentinian Crypto Miners

Officers stated that they were investigating “activity” at “two other addresses” to see if a connection could be established.

The AFIP’s raids this year have also seen the tax body intercept an illegal shipment of crypto mining rigs hidden inside a shipping crate full of cattle prods and children’s toys.

They have also swooped on a San Juan Province farm where miners had hidden their rigs in an area reserved for cooling fruit.