US Treasury Sanctions Russian Crypto Mining Firm Bitriver
In its latest round of sanctions, the U.S. Treasury Department says that it is taking action against companies in Russia’s crypto mining industry and added Bitriver and 10 subsidiaries, saying the companies "operated in the technology sector" of Russia's economy.
“Russia has a comparative advantage in crypto mining due to energy resources and a cold climate. However, mining companies rely on imported computer equipment and fiat payments, which makes them vulnerable to sanctions,” a Treasury statement said.
According to data from Cambridge University, Russia is the world’s third-biggest destination for bitcoin mining, after the United States and Kazakhstan.
Last year Bitcoin mining generated an average of about $1.4 billion in revenue per month, of which about 11% might have gone to Russian miners, according to the IMF.
Bitriver, which was founded in Russia in 2017 and has three offices across the United States, switched legal ownership of its assets to Swiss holding company Bitriver AG last year. Earlier in February, the company announced that it was Russia's first company with a net-zero carbon footprint.