Georgia Announces Crackdown on Illegal Bitcoin Mining

Georgia will install electricity meters across villages and settlements in Mestia to curb illegal cryptocurrency mining that officials say has strained the local power grid. Vice Prime Minister Mamuka Mdinaradze said the activity pushed Mestia’s electricity consumption to 133 million kilowatt-hours in 2025, more than 13 times the level of comparable municipalities.

Large-scale illegal mining has caused grid overloads and a deteriorating energy supply, prompting numerous outages that affected both residents and tourists. Mdinaradze said law enforcement agencies have been tasked with identifying the unauthorized operations.

The government plans to introduce metering both locally and across each village or settlement to pinpoint the exact sources of the mining. He added that electricity in Svaneti will remain free for every consumer up to a predetermined quantity and that the measures are meant only to target illegal activity.

Georgia, Mestia, Svaneti

georgia, bitcoin mining, illegal mining, mestia, svaneti, electricity meters, power grid, electricity consumption, power outages, mamuka mdinaradze