Russia ranks second as the country with the largest energy capacity for crypto mining extraction. While there are still uncertainties on the regulatory side, the amount of power devoted to the sector has grown to a record high this year.
According to data provided by the country’s largest mining operator, Bitriver, the amount of power used for crypto mining in Russia reached 1 gigawatt (GW) in the first three months of this year. The United States remains the leader with 3–4 GW of power capacity for mining.
Data provided by the head of the Russian Association of Cryptoeconomics, Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain/Racib, Alexander Brazhnikov, suggests that the energy capacity of Russia’s crypto mining sector may be higher than that figure. He said that as Russia uses about 800,000 ASIC miners, the combined power rating is estimated to exceed 2.5 GW.
According to research published last August, Russian miners’ electricity consumption increased 20 times over the five years between 2017–2022.
The country’s industrial development is facilitated by the availability of cheap energy resources and the mild climate in areas such as Irkutsk.
However, its future remains unclear due to the absence of regulations. A bill designed to introduce regulations for mining businesses has yet to be passed by parliament in Moscow.
Launch Bitcoin.com, Monday (10/4/2023), the top 10 lineup also includes Gulf countries 700 mega watt (MW), Canada 400 MW, Malaysia 300 MW, Argentina 135 MW), Iceland (120 MW), Paraguay (100–125 MW), Kazakhstan (100 MW), and Ireland (90 MW).
Apart from leading in terms of power allocation, the US also leads in terms of global hashrate share. However, the growth of the American market was slowed by increasing electricity rates, reduced mining profitability and the elimination of tax incentives in some areas.
“In addition, most of the equipment was bought by American miners on credit, so many over-leveraged companies are in bankruptcy proceedings or have already gone bankrupt,” said Bitriver CEO Igor Runets.
