Russian Officials Confiscate 238 Illegal Mining Rigs in Irkutsk

• Russian authorities seized 238 illegal cryptocurrency mining rigs in the Irkutsk region.
• The illegal mining activities caused significant damage to the electrical grid, leading to criminal charges against the miners.

Russian authorities have confiscated 238 mining rigs from a community that is said to be entirely focused on gardening. The Irkutsk region in Southeastern Siberia has become the unofficial capital of the Russian Bitcoin mining sector, where illegal crypto mining continues. This is due to its famously low energy rates, as well as its low winter temperatures.

According to TASS, the state media outlet has reported that more than 230 units of illegal mining equipment were found in the region. This was all done in the possession of residents of the Angarsky Bereg SNT in the Irkutsk region. In July, the officials seized 500 units of mining equipment from a summer cottage and the damage exceeded 200 million rubles.

The report says,

“The residents placed 238 units of digital equipment and connected it to the electrical networks supplying the population of the Irkutsk region.”

The damage from the illegal mining has exceeded 68 million rubles, approximately 75,556.309 US dollars. This has occurred as the miners have paid for electricity at a discounted rate for household needs. This criminal case is now being investigated by the prosecutor’s office. The illegal mining in Irkutsk has been happening since 2019 according to what the the energy workers have said. The committee said it had launched a criminal case against the miners, chaging them with fraud-related offenses.

Russia’s Cryptocurrency Mining Surge

Russia is setting up special organizations to mine and transfer cryptocurrencies to foreign entities. As the Russian president warns that cryptocurrency mining risks overloading Russia’s electrical grid and could lead to a shortage of power in certain regions, he has called for expanding the central bank’s digital currency.

Since there is ban on cryptocurrency mining in China and other countries has been increasing, Russian miners are striving hard. They are installing equipment in houses, apartments, and garages and pay for the consumed electricity which is lower than the commercial rate.