Russia has reportedly imported thousands of cryptocurrency mining devices amid a massive surge in the crypto market.
A senior executive at BitRiver, the largest crypto mining colocation services provider in Russia, claimed that a local client received over 20,000 crypto mining devices, Russian news agency Kommersant reports Feb. 10.
BitRiver founder and CEO Igor Runets said that the total mining power of the imported hardware amounts to 70 MWh, which is reportedly estimated to make up the largest single batch of crypto mining hardware in Russia. Runets said that the hardware was delivered in December 2020 and was immediately set up for Bitcoin (BTC) mining in Bratsk — a city in Russia that has one of the country’s largest hydropower stations.
Runets noted that the mining rigs were imported from Asia. A spokesperson from BitRiver told Cointelegraph that the company cannot disclose either the name of the Russian client or the exact country that exported the hardware. The representative added that the mining data center was established at one of BitRiver’s locations.
BitRiver did not disclose the exact type of crypto miners imported. According to Kommersant, the imported batch was priced between $40 million and $60 million.
Despite Russia adopting its crypto law “On Digital Financial Assets” in January 2021, there is a certain level of uncertainty about crypto mining in the country as the law does not provide a clear regulatory framework for the industry. In September 2020, local authorities even proposed to prohibit Russian crypto miners from receiving payment for mining crypto.