Russia seizes over 8,000 illegal cryptocurrency mining sites

Mars Finance reports that, according to DL News, the Irkutsk Regional State Power Company Irkutskenergosbyt in Russia recently discovered over 8,000 suspected illegal cryptocurrency mining farms. These farms are disguised as chicken coops, greenhouses, forests, paper mills, and abandoned gas stations. Since 2019, the company has filed 2,170 lawsuits against illegal miners, seeking a total compensation of $18.5 million. Courts have imposed fines amounting to about half of that sum, and some cases have been settled out of court. Miners often disguise their activities as charging electric vehicles or agricultural electricity use, leading to electricity losses. To ensure grid stability, multiple regions in Russia have shut down licensed industrial mining farms and plan to use artificial intelligence tools to investigate illegal mining activities.