Russian Bitcoin Mining Largely Unaffected Amidst Russia-Ukraine Crisis

The Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption index reported that miners in Russia contributed around 11.2 percent of the worldwide BTC hash rate in August 2021. Reports state that three nations account for more than half of the Bitcoin network’s computational power: the United States, Kazakhstan, and Russia. Now, the latter state is at war with Ukraine, causing crypto industry observers to keep a close eye on the network for any disturbances. With the United States and NATO allies imposing sanctions on the Russian government, it is uncertain how the local Bitcoin industry and the larger economy will fare. While some cryptocurrency mining companies, such as Ethereum-focused Flexpool, have suspended operations in Russia due to the invasions in Ukraine, BTC miners Compass Mining has guaranteed to clients hosted in Russia that its mining equipment will stay operating in the territory. The Editorial Director of Compass Mining, Will Foxley said, “Much of Russian bitcoin mining is powered by domestic natural gas in Siberia. It’s unlikely that hash power goes offline unless sanctions influence pool providers.” Compass Mining CEO Whit Gibbs sent his condolences and prayers to all those affected by the ongoing armed conflict. Earlier today, Twitter assured the community that its Eastern European operations are secure in Serbia, far from any ‘geopolitical unrest.’ I want to reassure our customers hosting in Russia that we are in constan...