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Russian Energy Minister Says Miners Should Pay More for Electricity
Using energy at retail rates for crypto miners is unacceptable, Nikolay Shulginov said.
Nikolay Shulginov, Russia’s minister of energy, told the TASS agency on Wednesday that cryptocurrency miners should pay more than households for electricity in order to maintain the reliability of the electricity grid.
The Ministry of Energy is working on solutions, he said, though it’s unclear if any particular bills or directives will be implemented soon.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
The remark comes soon after the head of Irkutsk, a region in Siberia popular with crypto miners, complained miners are running their operations in residential buildings and consuming large amounts of power at retail prices.
Irkutsk Governor Igor Kobzev wrote to vice prime minister Alexander Novak earlier this week, saying electricity consumption in the region has grown by 159% since last year. He blamed illegal mining and the influx of miners from China following that country’s regulatory crackdown on crypto.
Roman Zabuga, a spokesman for BitRiver, a major mining farm in the region, said crypto mining has flourished, alongside the growing bitcoin price. He said that growth is coming from locals expanding existing mining operations or starting new ones.
“These miners are, in fact, using electricity for households, on the price that is subsidized by the regional government, for business purposes,” he said, adding that special tariffs for miners might be introduced in the future.
Anna Baydakova
Anna writes about blockchain projects and regulation with a special focus on Eastern Europe and Russia. She is especially excited about stories on privacy, cybercrime, sanctions policies and censorship resistance of decentralized technologies.
She graduated from the Saint Petersburg State University and the Higher School of Economics in Russia and got her Master's degree at Columbia Journalism School in New York City.
She joined CoinDesk after years of writing for various Russian media, including the leading political outlet Novaya Gazeta.
Anna owns BTC and an NFT of sentimental value.
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Crypto Industry Asks President Trump to Stop JPMorgan’s 'Punitive Tax' on Data Access
A coalition of fintech and crypto trade groups is urging the White House to defend open banking and stop JPMorgan from charging fees to access customer data.
What to know:
- Ten major fintech and crypto trade associations have urged President Trump to stop big banks from imposing fees that could hinder innovation and competition.
- JPMorgan's plan to charge for access to consumer banking data may debank millions and threaten the adoption of stablecoins and self-custody wallets.
- The CFPB's open banking rule, which mandates free consumer access to bank data, is under threat as banks have sued to block it, and the CFPB has requested its vacatur.
