Electricity consumption increases in Irkutsk because more Russians start mining cryptocurrency-mining Bitcoin messages

electricity suppliers in the Russian region of Irkutsk have registered an increase in electricity consumption in residential areas, which they attribute to the digging of cryptocurrencies. Airplanes with mining equipment from the restricted China continue to land in the region, and the cases of hardware theft have increased significantly.

Irkutsk Dealing with increasing electricity requirements in the middle of growing popularity of mining

Companies that ensure the power supply in the Russian region of Irkutsk reported four times an increase in the consumption of the population in 2021 compared to the previous year and blamed amateur crypto mining workers for the increase. cited from Tass, the director of development at the Irkutsk Electric Grid Company, Evgeny Vechkanov, pointed out the high crypto prices and Chinas mining as the main reasons hin.

Oleg Prichko, CEO of the Baikal Energy Company, confirmed that the growth is largely due to the "gray" mining. As a comment on his distribution, he revealed that seven Boeing-737 were loaded in the first half of January alone. "Many trucks transport devices from China that are not needed there because of the ban. Practically free equipment is moving to the Irkutsk region," added Prichko.

Many residents of the Irkutsk Oblast have built mining companies in their houses and Dats, the report says. The load on the power grid is growing, which leads to frequent failures and failures power output . The Russian authorities insist that these miners are actually working on business, while they continue to pay for the energy they burned for households. These are about four times lower than the commercial tariffs and in Irkutsk the prices in rural areas begin at just $ 0.01 per kilowatt hour.

In the meantime, the number of cases of theft of mining rigs has increased. Last year, 344 such crimes were registered in the region. The losses amounted to 160 million rubles (over $ 2.1 million). So far, law enforcement officers have solved 54 cases, with 66 perpetrators being brought to trial. Andrey Zhbanov, head of the Irkutsk regional criminal police, said that such crimes were committed almost every day in 2021.

Russia's importance as a mining hotspot has increased significantly since the Chinese government has initiated a nationwide approach to mining cryptocurrencies. A study by the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance classifies Russia in terms of the mining capacity in third parties, and last August his share of the global Bitcoin Hashrat was over 11 %.

mining is a profitable business in Russia and also an additional source of income for many normal Russians. His legal status still has to be determined, and many civil servants in Moscow have supported the idea recognize it as an entrepreneurial Activity that would enable the government to do this es and increase electricity tariffs for mining companies as well as for individual miners. At the same time, electricity suppliers in Russia Measure to contain the home mining.

Do you think that Russia will allow its citizens to continue to reduce cryptocurrencies in their houses? Tell us in the comment area below.

lubomir Tassew

lubomir Taskensev is a journalist from the technically experienced Eastern Europe, to the Hitchen's quote: "To be a writer is what I am and not what I do." In addition to crypto, blockchain and fintech, international politics and business are two other sources of inspiration.

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