Apr 21, 2022 11:00:00

Russian crypto mining company is subject to US sanctions for the first time

As part of the economic sanctions against Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the US Treasury has announced that it has added new Russian crypto mining companies to the sanctions.

US Treasury Designates Facilitators of Russian Sanctions Evasion | US Department of the Treasury

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0731

US Treasury sanctions Russian bitcoin miners
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/20/us-treasury-sanctions-russian-bitcoin-miners.html

On April 20, 2022, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Ministry of Finance implemented further sanctions on Russia's attempts to circumvent existing international sanctions. OFAC is a global network of more than 40 individuals and organizations led by Transkapitalbank, a Russian commercial bank, and Konstantin Malofeyev, which the United States has designated as a Russian oligarch, as new sanctions, and a Russian crypto mining company. Announced the addition of a BitRiver and 10 related subsidiaries.

This sanction will block all property owned by the above agencies in the United States and any profits arising from them, and the agency will be obliged to report ownership of the property to OFAC. This prohibits transactions in the United States where the property owned by the institution is profitable, that is, the provision of funds, goods, and services to people.

This is the first time that the Ministry of Finance has imposed sanctions on cryptocurrency mining companies, and it is reported that the United States sees Russia's income from mining companies as a potential threat. I am.

According to a

study by the University of Cambridge, Russia is the third largest amount of Bitcoin mining in the world, and it is pointed out that income from cryptocurrencies may be helping the Russian economy. 'Russia has a comparative advantage in cryptocurrency mining due to its abundant energy resources and cold climate. Selling cryptocurrency mining capabilities internationally,' said Brian Nelson, Deputy Secretary of State for Terrorism and Financial Information at the Ministry of Finance. By running a vast server farm, companies are backing Russia's resources, but it's also true that mining companies are easy to regulate because they are made up of imported computers and statutory currencies. ' Said.