Authorities of the Russian region propose to define sites for miners

This will become possible only after the legalization of the industry in the country

12.12.2022 - 14:45

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2 min

What’s new? The authorities of the Irkutsk Region are ready to allocate areas in the north of the region for the construction of mining farms. However, this will happen only if the federal law on cryptocurrency mining is adopted. Igor Kobzev, the region’s governor, told TASS journalists.

News on the TASS website

What other statements have been made? According to Kobzev, the authorities are ready to consider transferring the capacities of illegal miners from the southern part of the region to the northern part, where there is a surplus of electricity. For industrial miners, they will consider creating a separate power line, as well as sites where there is already free capacity.

Kobzev also added that in power-deficient areas mining will only be possible if there are dedicated lines, so there is no overloading of public networks. According to TASS journalists, illegal mining is widespread in the Irkutsk Region. Cryptocurrency mining farms are installed in residential buildings and garages, not designed for high power consumption. This leads to an increased load on the network and power outages.

Earlier, Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Snikkars said that Russia began to identify illegal miners in mass at residential buildings due to the volume of energy consumption and change in the load profile. According to him, even though the mining of digital assets is not yet regulated, it is possible to prove in court the use of electricity for illegal purposes. There are already at least 10 cases where power supply companies were able to recover from miners the difference in the cost of electricity for the population and businesses.

For more details on how the mining industry works in Russia, read GetBlock Magazine’s special feature.

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