The US placed new sanctions on a number of individuals, businesses, a Russian commercial bank, and even a crypto mining company on April 20.
For the first time, the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has designated a bitcoin mining company. The company in question was Bitriver AG, a Russian Bitcoin mining operation based in Switzerland.
Despite shifting formal ownership of its assets to Switzerland last year, the company operates out of three locations across Russia, according to the report.
Brian Nelson, the Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, announced that the first crypto mining company sanctioned.
“Treasury can and will target those who evade, attempt to evade, or aid the evasion of U.S.”
” sanctions against Russia, as they are helping support Putin’s brutal war of choice,”
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the US has implemented multiple rounds of sanctions. Sanctions on the country’s top banks and lenders, as well as cryptocurrency exchanges.
“Having operated in the Russian Federation economy’s technology sector,” Bitriver was labeled.
Bitriver claims to be the world’s largest provider of environmentally friendly cryptocurrency mining, having been created in 2017. It boasts a 100-megawatt renewable energy data center in Bratsk, Siberia, with 75,000 miners.
According to the Treasury Department, the company sold mining capacity to international clients, allowing Russia to “monetize its natural resources.” It goes on to say:
“Russia has a comparative advantage in crypto mining due to energy resources and a cold climate.”
“However, mining companies rely on imported computer equipment and fiat payments,”
“which makes them vulnerable to sanctions.”
The Treasury also sanctioned Russian bank Transkapitalbank, as well as more than 40 individuals and businesses linked to Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev.
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