Russia becomes the second largest crypto miner in the world

[ad_1]

Russia has become the second largest cryptocurrency mining country in the world this year, business daily Kommersant reported on Friday, citing Bitriver, Russia’s largest bitcoin provider.

While the United States remains by far the largest crypto miner in the world, with a mining capacity of 3 to 4 gigawatts, Russia’s production capacity reached 1 gigawatt in January-March 2023.

Taking second place for the first time, Russia took a spot previously held by Kazakhstan, which introduced restrictions on crypto mining activities in 2022 and now ranks ninth, Kommersant said citing Bitriver.

China, which banned crypto mining in 2021, did not make Bitriver’s top 10 at all.

The use of bitcoin is limited in Russia due to restrictive cryptocurrency laws, including President Vladimir Putin’s 2020 Law on Digital Financial Assets, which legalized cryptocurrencies but banned using them to pay goods and services.

Yet cryptocurrencies have been linked to Russia’s sanctions evasion strategies, with the United States blacklisting a bitcoin and ether address in February that it claims may have been involved in the sales of cryptocurrencies. defense equipment abroad.

The European Union has imposed a complete ban on conducting cryptocurrency transactions with Russian citizens and anyone residing in the country as part of its eighth round of sanctions introduced last year.

[ad_2]