Telecom operators were ordered to carry out the necessary technical measures to block domain names and site page pointers on the Internet. The decision was made by the State Committee for Public Relations in order to restrict cryptocurrency mining activities.

The measure taken had an effect, but not lasting. Why restrictions aimed at reducing the load on the power grid turned out to be ineffective, how the owners of mining farms bypass the ban and what work Chernomorenergo continues to carry out.

Mining ban

Temporary offloading: why the restrictions were introduced on the Internet and how it will work

The fight against illegal connection to power grids in Abkhazia continues. They decided to unload the power system by restricting access to the Internet for miners.

Until June 1, 2021, the State Committee for Communications, Mass Media and Digital Development introduced a temporary restriction to Internet subscribers, with the impossibility of using the list of domain names, site page pointers and network addresses that allow mining cryptocurrencies.

This decision had only a short-term effect. At a meeting at the Ministry of Economy on January 7, the head of Chernomorenergo, Mikhail Logua, said that the restrictions imposed by the State Communications Committee helped the industry to do without incidents and tangible disruptions on holidays. According to him, energy consumption and load on the power system were temporarily brought to an acceptable level.

“On New Year's Eve, when Internet providers were actively involved in the work, we managed to reduce about 50 megawatts of loads. In addition, our structures and law enforcement agencies worked, which made it possible to meet the New Year holidays with good electricity. Unfortunately, we cannot say that such the situation persists even now, "the head of Chernomorenergo said in an interview with Sputnik.

Based on the fact that miners have learned to bypass the blocking of Internet providers, they have to turn off the same object several times, Mikhail Logua emphasized.

"This work requires constant rechecking, which is what we are doing. This is a difficult and difficult work, the main functions of Chernomorenergo are slightly different. Only through joint efforts, starting from the border, providers, heads of local administrations, law enforcement agencies, can we solve this problem. When providers turned off mining farms, consumption was at 325 megawatts, before that it reached 380 megawatts per day. Now consumption ranges from 350 to 365 megawatts, depending on the air temperature, "he said.

According to Chernomorenergo, today 184 cryptocurrency mining facilities are de-energized throughout the republic. In the Gagra region - 39, Gudauta - 17, Sukhum - 22, in Sukhum - 37, Gulrypsh - 21, Ochamchira - 40, Tkuarchal - 6, Gal - 2 farms.

The department noted that it is much easier to work on outages with large farms than with small ones, since small farms are usually located in houses and apartments. Collectively, they form more load than all large farms.

The fan can return

Said Blabba, head of the distribution network service at Chernomorenergo, notes that it is not uncommon for owners of mining farms to reconnect to the networks after they have been cut off.

“It cannot be said that our work had a great effect, since within two or three days people found ways to bypass and started their work again,” he commented on the situation with restrictions of Internet providers.

According to Blabb, the first days of the new year were warm, but if the air temperature drops, it will be difficult to provide the population with uninterrupted electricity due to high loads.

"There is a danger that there will be accidents at substations, so power outages may occur," he stressed.

The specialist believes that tough measures should be taken against violators, since they make senseless the work of Chernomorenergo to reduce the load on the republic's electricity.

"If the farm is turned off five times and the same number of times it starts working again, this speaks of the permissiveness of the people who are engaged in this business. In my opinion, this is due to the fact that there is no law that could affect them," says Blabba.

According to the expert, 60% of the number of de-energized mining farms are starting to work again. In addition, new places are emerging where enterprising citizens mine cryptocurrency.
On December 30, the Prime Minister of Abkhazia Alexander Ankvab signed an order banning the placement and storage of equipment for the production of cryptocurrencies on the territory of state enterprises and institutions of the republic. In accordance with the order, the Ministry of Internal Affairs may seize equipment at such facilities for storage.

According to the head of Chernomorenergo Mikhail Logua, the seizure of equipment not only at state-owned enterprises would be an effective measure to combat illegal connections, but we must prepare for this.

“To seize equipment, legal grounds are needed, if these are not only enterprises subordinate to the Cabinet of Ministers. To seize equipment, certain equipment is needed, people must be involved. What was seized must be stored somewhere and well guarded. The most correct would be to work out the normal mechanism of interaction of all structures that can be useful in this matter, "Mikhail Logua emphasized.  

How to bypass provider blocking

Programmer Damey Jonua told how the owners of mining farms bypass the blocking of Internet providers. He noted that operators block the IP addresses of sites to which miners connect. However, getting around them is fairly straightforward.

"There are many different ways. Each of them has its pros and cons. The simplest, if explained in simple terms, is outside the country, for example, in Russia, a server is rented on which a so-called" proxy "is launched. This is a kind of intermediary that redirects requests from Abkhazia to the desired site, "the specialist says.

Another popular option is to use a VPN service, which will provide all the benefits of a proxy server and also protect and encrypt the traffic that the device exchanges with Internet servers.

"It is already much more difficult to block it. There is another way to bypass the bans - the use of satellite communications. They say that the next day after the restriction was imposed on Tricolor, hundreds of our citizens called in Sochi with a request to connect satellite Internet. This way of circumvention is bad because the quality of communication drops and mining brings less profit. All the main workarounds I have listed. Of course, I greatly simplified it to make it clear, "- said Jonua.
IT specialist Vladislav Inkin said that under the current conditions, miners cannot take equipment outside the country and sell it. If they had such an opportunity, they would be able to return the funds spent on the purchase of devices for extracting cryptocurrency. They continue to work to get the money back.

“The easiest way is to take all this equipment to Russia, where there are no prohibitions, sell it and return your money. There are no colossal losses in this whole story. which one was banned, they are looking for a merchant for their iron. In fact, it turns out that they cut off one head - another has grown, "- said the IT specialist.

On December 25, RUE "Chernomorenergo" ordered the shutdown of all crypto farms on the territory of Abkhazia. Cryptocurrency mining activities are prohibited in Abkhazia until June 1, 2021, and the import of mining equipment for the same period is also prohibited.