Bitcoin News and Finance
At Least 1,000 Lawsuits Filed Against Crypto Miners in Russia’s Irkutsk Region Skip to main content

At Least 1,000 Lawsuits Filed Against Crypto Miners in Russia’s Irkutsk Region

At Least 1,000 Lawsuits Filed Against Crypto Miners in Russia’s Irkutsk Region

Authorities in the Russian region of Irkutsk have so far filed 1,000 lawsuits against what they call “gray” miners, or people minting coins in their homes. In over half of these cases, courts have ordered the defendants to compensate the operators of the distribution networks.

Hundreds of Crypto Miners Sued in Irkutsk for Extracting Digital Currencies Using Subsidized Electricity

Power distributors in the Siberian Irkutsk Oblast have filed lawsuit number 1,000 against consumers illegally mining cryptocurrency in residential areas. In 600 of these, judges have decided that the so-called “gray” miners should pay a total of more than 260 million rubles ($3.5 million) in compensation for losses and damages.

The most common reason for going to court is an unusually high usage of electricity, the regional news portal Irk.ru reported. Such is the recent case with the owner of a house in the village of Novaya Razvodnaya, whose average monthly power consumption over the course of one year reached almost 80,000 kWh, exceeding the total burned by the other 15 homes on the same street.

The man denied any misconduct, claiming he didn’t mine cryptocurrencies but used heat guns to dry his basement. The Irkutsk Regional Court did not accept his explanation and as a result he will have to pay the local power utility, Irkutskenergosbyt, more than 2 million rubles (approx. $27,000).

The amount should cover the difference between the subsidized electricity rates for domestic purposes, which can be as low as $0.01 per kWh in rural districts, and the much higher tariffs that businesses are required to pay.

In the past couple of years, authorities have been trying to clamp down on home crypto mining in the region, which has become a popular source of additional income for a growing number of people. Officials believe that the regulation of mining in Russia and the introduction of differentiated rates, depending on consumption, will help solve the issue.

Quoting Deputy Ministry of Energy Pavel Snikkars, the Russian press reported in December that electricity distribution companies have started to identify improvised mining farms in residential buildings by the increased loads on the grid at substations and are now prosecuting the illegal miners.

While crypto mining is yet to be regulated in Russia, with a dedicated bill under review in the parliament, such activities are not explicitly prohibited at the moment. Nevertheless, utilities can still prove in courts that these consumers are not using the electricity for domestic needs and request to charge them at commercial rates.

Do you think Russian authorities will continue to crack down on amateur crypto miners? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Custodial Lightning Network Service Attack Discovered by LN ‘Newbie’ — Hacker Strikes 6 LN Custodians

On September 18, a Redditor posted to the r/bitcoin forum and explained how he discovered a way to “attack [the] lightning Network’s custodial services.” The Reddit account dubbed “Reckless Satoshi” wanted to figure out if a “discrepancy between real routing fees and service’s transaction fee can be exploited for a profit.” The researcher disclosed that he wanted to see how large the damage could be and said “it is bad.” 6 Lightning Network Custodial Services Attacked, Researcher Discloses Findings to Offenders Prior to Public Disclosure A Redditor called Reckless Satoshi published a disclosure post on r/bitcoin this past Saturday and disclosed how he had found a vulnerability with routing fees and some of the Lightning Network’s custodial services. The research attack was done in good faith and after it was complete he disclosed the bugs to the offending services before publishing his findings. Reckless Satoshi used the Lightning Network (LN) attack on six different services incl
Post a Comment
Read more

Axie Infinity Down 40% Since Last Week’s Price High, Protocol Revenue Outshines Competitors

Last week, the game token leveraged within the Axie Infinity gaming universe skyrocketed to all-time highs, while other crypto markets remained extremely lackluster. During the last seven days, Axie Infinity’s platform token has dropped significantly in value shedding more than 12%. Meanwhile, the game platform’s smooth love potion token has slid over 8% over the last 24 hours. Axie Infinity Down More Than 40% Since All-Time High Not too long ago, the axie infinity (AXS) token was a topical conversation because it reached an all-time high on July 15. At the time, AXS managed to capture $28.93 per unit and since then it has shed 12.8% during the last seven days. The axie infinity (AXS) token is used within the blockchain-based game that involves battles between token-based creatures called “Axies.” AXS is used for the game’s governance system as well as other actions within the game. At the time of writing axie infinity (AXS) is exchanging hands for $16.70 per coin. AXS/USD on Ju
Post a Comment
Read more

Play-to-Earn Game From Polker (PKR) Exchange Listing – Endorsed by Akon

The Play-to-Earn NFT based Polker.Game ‘s native token $PKR has been officially listed on the popular centralized exchange BitMart. Polker.game has been in the spotlight recently as Akon, the American R&B superstar and record producer gave his official endorsement of polker stating that the “game is revolutionary” and that Polker is “hands down.. the best play to earn, NFT game in the space.”. With the BitMart listing and celebrity endorsement from Akon, Polker is perfectly positioned to become a major player in the Play-to-Earn league. Watch Akon’s Video Here What is Play-to-Earn? Although not a new concept, play-to-earn has become a trending term due to the popularity of the NFT game AXIE infinity. In the past, previous play-to-earn games have also achieved success – however, thanks to the huge amount of development in the blockchain space in recent years the gaming experience is now massively improved. Play-to-Earn games are essentially free to play and open to anyone and
Post a Comment
Read more

China to Crack Down on Copyright Infringement Through NFTs

Authorities in China are going after creators of digital collectibles based on other people’s works of art, the use of which was not authorized. The government offensive is part of a campaign to combat online copyright infringement and piracy with the participation of several departments. Regulators in China Move to Strengthen Copyright Supervision of Online Platforms The National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) has recently launched a campaign against copyright infringement and piracy on the internet, together with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, and the State Internet Information Office of the People’s Republic. A major objective of the initiative is to improve copyright supervision of online businesses by investigating cases involving the sale and distribution of infringing products on short video, live broadcast and e-commerce platforms, and promptly dealing with infringing content, the agency announced in a press r
Post a Comment
Read more
Blogarama - Blog Directory