Siberia sounds the alarm due to the influx of miners
Siberia may suffer due to unpredictable overloads of the power system – it’s all about Bitcoin miners fleeing from China, which cracks down on virtual currencies. An unpleasant situation is reported by local media.
A warning to Moscow from the Governor of the Irkutsk Region Igor Kobzev was made a month after the Central Bank of China declared all financial transactions with cryptocurrencies illegal.
In a letter to Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, quoted by the news site irk.ru of the Irkutsk region, Kobzev expressed concern about the “avalanche-like growth of electricity consumption by miners at consumer prices”.
Energy consumption of the Irkutsk region in 2021 will increase by 159% compared to last year, the newspaper reports.
This surge is exacerbated by China’s ban on cryptocurrency mining “and the relocation of a significant amount of equipment to Siberia due to geographic proximity,” Kobzev wrote.
Official repair site Asic for mining cryptocurrencies in Russia.
He explained that the situation is an unpredictable event for the region, leading to significant loads on the power grid with the risk of complex accidents and emergencies.
According to Bloomberg, the Irkutsk region is already a local Bitcoin mining center due to the cheapest retail electricity in Russia. It should be noted that industrial giants located in the region are taking on some of the consumers’ electricity costs, which reduces prices.
In an official letter, Kobzoev proposed to introduce higher rates for cryptominers, citing the annexed Crimean Peninsula.
“We understand that this unhealthy activity of miners is partly due to the affordable price of electricity for the population,” explained Kobzev, “this is a huge load on the network, and these are risks, especially in winter. We must defend Siberia and our people; miners have to pay at completely different rates “.
The use of Bitcoin in Russia is limited due to the country’s restrictive laws on cryptocurrencies, including President Vladimir Putin’s 2020 law on digital financial assets, which legalized cryptocurrencies but prohibited their use as payment for goods and services.
However, according to the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI), Russia is the third largest Bitcoin mining country in the world, accounting for more than 11% of average monthly shares.
