The US has sanctioned a Bitcoin (BTC) of Russia and a crypto mining firm in an effort to deter Moscow from evading existing sanctions imposed in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has added BitRiver, a major operator of BTC and crypto mining data processing centers in Eurasia, and ten of its subsidiaries to its list of Specially Designated Nationals. The government agency has designated a virtual currency mining company for the first time.
The Treasury said in a statement on Wednesday that it is targeting Russia’s virtual currency mining industry to ensure that “no asset, no matter how complex, becomes a mechanism for the Putin regime to offset the impact of sanctions.”
“By operating vast server farms that sell virtual currency mining capacity internationally, these companies help Russia monetize its natural resources,” the statement said. “Russia has a comparative advantage in crypto mining due to energy resources and a cold climate.”
Bitriver, which was founded in Russia in 2017, now has three offices across the country. According to its website, the crypto miner has a capacity of more than 300 MW and is the “world’s largest hosting provider for green cryptocurrency mining.”
The US has also broadened its sanctions to include a Russian commercial bank and dozens of businesses and individuals accused of assisting Russia in evading sanctions imposed by the US and its allies.
The US move coincides with Russia’s plans to expand its crypto mining operations. As previously reported, Oleg Ogiyenko, a director at BitRiver, stated in late March that “supplies of equipment for cryptocurrency mining to Russia” would “not be suspended.”
Recently, Anatoly Aksakov, a senior MP and the Chairman of the State Duma’s Committee on Financial Markets proposed that the country legalize cryptocurrency mining and allow only industrial miners to continue operations.
The MP also stated that Russia could benefit greatly from mining revenue taxation.
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