Is Venezuela using its crypto mining ban to ease a power crisis?

May 7, 2026: Venezuela's electricity demand hit 15,579 MW during a heat wave; the government attributes the spike to continued economic growth, highlighting acute grid stress and higher outage risk. Crypto-specific impact: elevated energy demand raises costs and reliability concerns for PoW crypto mining operations, threatens local mining revenue and infrastructure security, and could accelerate shifts toward energy-efficient setups, miner relocation, or changes in crypto adoption patterns.