Demand for mining equipment in Russia falls after central bank report

In January, sellers of mining equipment in Russia reported a drop in demand from buyers, linking it to the central bank’s latest report proposing a ban on cryptocurrencies in the country. This, reports RBC, citing a representative of one of the Russian marketplaces.

Meanwhile, the number of listings for mining equipment for sale rose, according to a staff member at one of the major online classifieds services.

According to the statistics available to the sources, the number of announcements for selling ASIC miners increased by 17%, while they were searched 27% less often. After the Bank of Russia’s report, demand fell by 18% compared with the week prior. The average price for this item was 241,830 rubles.

A representative of the VKontakte Ads and Youla press service said that in January they recorded an increase in announcements related to the sale of mining equipment. The indicator rose by 3% compared with December 2021 and doubled compared with January 2020.

The number of announcements for selling mining farms rose by 18%, and demand for them fell by 9% compared with December last year, and a week after the report — by 15% compared with the previous. The average price of a mining farm was 555,450 rubles.

The number of announcements for sale of ASIC Antminer mining farms for the month did not change, but for the year rose 80%.

A representative of Ozon said that in January sales of mining-related goods on their platform rose 51% compared with the previous month. Wallets were the most popular (+48%), while sales of ASIC miners rose by 5%.

Major mining companies did not notice significant changes in supply and demand on the market. Roman Zabuga, a partner of the international data-centre operator for cryptocurrency mining, BWC UG, told ForkLog that the cited statistics likely pertain only to home miners.

Maxim Gureev, head of sales at BitCluster, pointed to a slight decrease in demand for equipment in January, but attributed this to a different cause.

“This may be linked not to the Bank of Russia’s report, but rather to the falling Bitcoin price, as everyone expects price reductions for the devices,” he told ForkLog.

Earlier, on 20 January, the Bank of Russia proposed ban on the issuance and circulation of cryptocurrencies in the country. Among risks related to mining, the regulator highlighted the heavy load on power grids, environmental harm, and the formation of “demand for infrastructure to carry out cryptocurrency operations”.

ForkLog’s experts described the Bank of Russia’s arguments in favor of banning mining on Russian territory untenable and doubted the technical feasibility of such a ban.

At the end of January, the government approved a roadmap for regulating the crypto market through the end of 2022. On 1 February, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko instructed to include in the document questions related to the legal status of mining.

Last year retailers observed a significant rise in Russian interest in mining equipment. According to Avito, in 2021 demand for these devices grew 14-fold, and supply 13-fold. On Ozon, during the nine months of 2021, unit sales of cryptocurrency mining goods increased 13-fold.

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