Russia And Ukraine Close Illegal Crypto Mining

JAKARTA – Recently the Russian government closed an illegal crypto mining operating in Moscow. The information was conveyed by local news Tass this week. The illegal crypto mine operated by Rosseti was found to have stolen the local power grid.

This was conveyed by Ekaterina Korotkova from the Prosecutor's Office of Moscow Interregional Transport. Korotkova explained that the government discovered unauthorized connections to the power grid. Not to mention the problem of land confiscation carried out illegally by the miners.

“The audit revealed unauthorized connections to the power grid, theft of electricity, and illegal confiscation of land for the operation of equipment designed to perform cryptographic calculations related to digital currency mining,” said Korotkova.

According to sources, the cost of illegally consumed electricity used to power mining hardware exceeds 500,000 rubles a day (nearly $7,000), Korotkova detailed. The authorities have launched a criminal case and intend to prosecute the owners of the coin minting facility.

In addition, two crypto farms were also reported to have been damaged in Dagestan, a Russian republic located in the North Caucasus. In late November, the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper reported that a large mining operation had been discovered in a mountainous area. Preliminary data from the investigation showed that an unknown operator had caused damage of about 1 million rubles (more than 13,000 US dollars).

Local police have also found a crypto mining company in the Botlikh district where miners are connecting to the network without permission. According to a Forklog report citing the Dagestan interior ministry, crypto farming has been established since November and is run by a 35-year-old resident of the Dakhadayevsky district who stole electricity worth 257,000 rubles (about US$3,500).

The law on finance will be implemented in January to regulate a number of crypto-related activities in the Russian Federation. But crypto mining is not included in the law. In addition, the Russian government also summoned officials who had cryptocurrencies to be taxed.

Apart from Russia, Ukraine has also reportedly closed illegal mining in Kyiv Oblast. The owners of the mine are owned by local residents, where they installed a number of ASIC mining machines on a rental property in the Buchansky district, which borders the capital. The miners are alleged to have stolen electricity worth 3.5 million hryvnia or more than 128,000 US dollars.

The Ukrainian government is working to regulate crypto trading as a virtual asset. Although there is no ban on crypto mining yet, the government has reportedly closed bitcoin mining sites in the country.