Russian Bitcoin Mining Assessed Amid Conflict With Ukraine

This week, all eyes are on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and since Vladimir Putin’s army invaded Ukraine, a slew of countries have begun to impose and threaten economic penalties. The Russian ruble has been battered by unpredictable markets, with the Russian stock market trembling and UBS cutting Russia’s bond market to zero. The European Union imposed economic penalties against Russia, and US President Joe Biden announced that the US will follow suit. Despite the United Kingdom’s pleas to the SWIFT payment network to prohibit Russia from using the banking system, the country is still free to do so. Erik Voorhees, the founder of Shapeshift and a crypto supporter, mocked the fact that Russia is still able to use SWIFT. “Apparently Russia’s actions are so egregious that the West has decided to permit Russia to continue using the SWIFT Network,” Voorhees tweeted. Apparently Russia's actions are so egregious that the West has decided to permit Russia to continue using the SWIFT Network. — Erik Voorhees (@ErikVoorhees) February 24, 2022 Furthermore, bitcoin supporters have been debating Russia’s hashpower, as the country is said to have the world’s third-largest amount of hashrate. This figure is based on data from the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI), which was released in July. Because electricity is so cheap in Russia, a slew of mining activities are based there. Bitcluster, for example, has bee...