The Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Holdings has decided to wind down cryptocurrency mining operations in Russia. Bloomberg reports.
The company conducts mining outside Japan via its subsidiary SBI Crypto. Its spokesperson did not specify when the unit would fully exit Siberia. To do so, SBI Holdings must sell the remaining equipment located on Russian soil.
According to a source familiar with the matter, the company halted mining in Russia after the war in Ukraine began. Another reason for winding down the business was the overall uncertainty surrounding mining in the jurisdiction due to sanctions.
According to BTC.com, at the time of writing SBI Crypto ranks 12th among mining pools. Its hashrate stands at 1.24 EH/s.
Earlier, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on the BitRiver group of companies, involved in cryptocurrency mining in Russia. Its founder Igor Runets, in a ForkLog comment, said that he regards this decision as unfair competition.
Elliptic suggested that the cryptocurrency industry received from the United States a “strong signal” about the need to implement measures that would prevent Russia from evading sanctions through mining.
In April, Compass Mining decided to sell equipment deployed in Siberia after restrictions imposed on BitRiver.
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