The Ministry of Interior in Kuwait has made crypto mining officially an unlawful act. The ministry stated on April 22 that mining activities contravene a number of state laws. It stated that unapproved mining is subject to severe legal punishments.
The ministry referred to four laws. These are Law No. 31 of 1970 amending the Penal Law, Law No. 37 of 2014 regarding communications regulation, plus Industrial Law No. 56 of 1996 and Law No. 33 of 2016 on the Kuwait Municipality. According to officials, miners without permits are violating all four.
Authorities have called on individuals and organizations involved in mining to desist. The authorities stressed that offenders will be forwarded to investigation agencies.
Aside from legal concerns, the ministry was also worried about the country’s power grid. It termed the process as energy-guzzling and not sustainable. “Mining leads to overuse of power, which adds to the load on the country’s grid system,” it stated.
However, the officials reported frequent power supply disruptions. These outages impact residential areas, business premises, and vital services.
The ministry termed the phenomenon a “threat to public safety” and threatened deteriorating impacts in case mining is left unabated.
Crypto mining threatens Kuwait’s power supply
However, the Interior Ministry announced this in coordination with other major authorities. These are the Ministry of Electricity and Water and Renewable Energy, the Public Authority for Communications and Information Technology, the Public Authority for Industry, and the Kuwait Municipality.
Their combined effort was meant to tackle the increased illegal mining operations. The ministry recognized that certain operators might not have a complete idea about the legal ramifications.
But it encouraged all stakeholders to “change their status promptly.” The officials reported that noncompliance would attract legal action without notice.
This move represents a major departure from how Kuwait has approached digital assets previously. It is a clampdown on activities that compromise national infrastructure and contravene regulatory protocols.
Nonetheless, Kuwait is among an expanding group of countries adopting an assertive stance regarding crypto mining. The official word from the government is clear: unlicensed crypto mining will not be tolerated, and there will be swift action.
