In the side streets and narrow alleys of Abkhazia’s main city, a low growl and an oily stench are commonplace. Thrumming diesel generators provide power amid rolling blackouts that have infuriated residents and evoked memories of the post-war chaos nearly three decades ago. But what’s more infuriating for many Abkhaz is what’s causing the blackouts: bitcoin. Or, to be more precise, the cryptocurrency “miners” whose computer servers are sucking the breakaway Georgian region’s electrical grid dry. “To be honest, after the war, in my opinion, it was easier,” said one frustrated Sukhumi resident, Rimma Khashba, 67. “We have to get used to the schedule that they dictate to us. It’s very difficult because it’s constant: The lights are on, the water’s off; the water’s on, the lights are off. Or the Internet goes off. You can’t even turn on the washing machine to do the wash,” she […]