For the first time, Russia ranks second among countries with the highest contribution to Bitcoin mining. The highest place this country had previously held was third place after the United States and Kazakhstan.
As reported local media Russians, between January and March 2023 Russia used an average of 1 GW of electrical energy solely for bitcoin mining and cryptocurrencies. This put it ahead of countries like Canada and Malaysia, as well as Latin Americans Argentina and Paraguay. All between 100MW and 400MW.
According to the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance, in 2020 Russia was part of a triplet, along with China and the United States, that accounted for 65% of the total Bitcoin hashrate.
Reasons for the growth of bitcoin mining in Russia
Experts from the Russian mining company BitRiver believe that the recent growth in Bitcoin mining in Russia is increasing Consequence of the restrictive measures of the Kazakh government in 2022.
In March last year, CriptoNoticias reported on the Kazakh government’s dissolution of more than 100 mining farms. They cited the energy crisis the country was going through as the main reason for such action. Later, at the end of the year, the Kazakh parliament implemented measures to protect the national power system from illegal mining and determined the issue of mining licenses.
Alisa Tsukanova, Marketing Director at EMCD Mining Pool, expects cryptocurrency mining to continue to expand in Russia. According to her, there are regions of this country that offer cheap electricity and a favorable climateimplies a saving on investment in refrigeration equipment.
However, resistance from entities like the Central Bank of Russia to promoting bitcoin mining on national territory could be one of the obstacles to the expansion of this activity.