Russia Tightens Restrictions On Home Crypto Mining, This Miner Is Immediately Arrested
JAKARTA - The Russian government is increasingly eradicating illegal crypto mining. This time, the police in the Novosibirsk area, Siberia, reported that they had arrested a local resident suspected of mining crypto by violating electricity usage rules. This arrest took place amid the increasing use of illegal electricity for crypto mining which burdened regional electricity use.
According to reports from local media NGS, the suspect was accused of illegally utilizing power equipment for the public to run crypto mining facilities in Moshkovsky District. Kirill Travin, Deputy Head of the Interior Ministry of Novosibirsk Region, said in a meeting with Governor Andrei Travnikov that a team of law enforcement had raided the premises and found a number of administrative violations.
The results of the investigation also revealed that the suspect managed to get a profit of 12 million rubles (around Rp1.9 billion) from the mining activity. Travin added that the authorities are investigating potential additional violations related to mining activities carried out by the suspect.
Although there has been no official confirmation regarding the type of coin mined, several uploads on the local forum stated that the suspect most likely mined Ethereum (ETH), which requires high computing power and consumes large amounts of electricity.
Crypto Mining Trends In Russia
Crypto mining trends in Russia, especially in the Siberia region, have become popular as cold temperatures can help cool hardware for heat-prone mining. Coupled with lower electricity costs than other regions. While this activity cannot be immediately called illegal, the new law that took effect earlier this month set limits on the use of electricity for home miners.
Under this law, local governments are authorized to order the closure of mining devices in the event of a significant surge in electricity consumption or misuse of electricity subsidies.
A resident of Novosibirsk, Sasha, stated that the practice of crypto mining from home is nothing foreign in her city. I think a lot of people mine crypto at home here. I even heard the sound of machines in my near apartment, even in winter," he said.
Although the new law allows private mining, the government is still trying to ensure that miners do not violate the provisions for the use of subsidized electricity or burden the general power grid.