Wu said weekly mining news: 0418-0424 US sanctions on Russian mining

1.

According to the U.S. Treasury Department’s official website, OFAC has designated companies engaged in the Russian virtual currency mining industry to be added to the sanctions list. This is the first time that the Treasury Department has designated a virtual currency mining company. OFAC has additionally designated 10 Russian subsidiaries of Bitriver AG under EO 14024 because they are owned or controlled by Bitriver AG.

Bitcoin miner BitRiver said in a statement on Thursday that the sanctions imposed on it yesterday by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) are intended to favor American companies. BitRiver CEO and founder Igor Runets claimed that BitRiver's parent company is based in Switzerland and has "never provided services to Russian government agencies" or worked with entities that have been sanctioned. "These actions by the United States should clearly be seen as interference in the crypto mining industry, attempting to change the global balance of power in favor of American companies through unfair competition," Runets added.

In a statement yesterday, OFAC said companies like BitRiver “help Russia monetize its natural resources” and added BitRiver and 10 subsidiaries to its Specially Designated Sanctioned Entities List. (CoinDesk)

American crypto miner Compass Mining is looking to quickly divest its Siberian facilities following a crackdown by the U.S. Treasury Department on the Russian operations of its partner BitRiver.

In a Discord announcement, Compass Mining CEO Whit Gibbs said the company was asked to immediately cease all dealings with its Russian hosting partner BitRiver. The company will immediately end its operations in Russia and is looking to liquidate the hardware. The company said it will seek to liquidate all of its equipment in Russia and share the proceeds with customers who own it.

Gibbs said in an interview that the company expects to recover most of the $30 million it invested in the country. Compass also appears to have removed all references to its Russian operations from its website. The company said it will now focus primarily on its North American operations. (CoinGape)

2.

Live streaming service provider Hello Pal announced the start of its cryptocurrency mining operations in Australia. 100 Bitmain Antminer L7 mining machines are located at an undisclosed location in Victoria, Australia and are fully operational. In 2021, Hello Pal signed a final purchase agreement with a Shanghai company to acquire an initial 51% interest in 12,500 Dogecoin and Litecoin mining machines.

3.

According to the SEC's official website, crypto mining company Bit Digital (BTBT) has submitted a prospectus to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), planning to raise $500 million through an ATM offering. The proceeds will be used for capital expenditures, purchase of new mining equipment and other potential acquisitions.

4.

Bitcoin mining company Crusoe Energy raised $505 million to develop its natural gas mining business. The funds will be used to recruit new employees and expand its Bitcoin mining and cloud computing business in the United States and other places. The funds are composed of $350 million raised in the C round of financing led by G2 Venture Partners and $155 million in credit from SVB Capital, Sparkfund, and Generate Capital (Decrypt)

5.

A new IMF report says Russia could evade economic sanctions imposed after its invasion of Ukraine by turning to cryptocurrency mining. It specifically warns that Russia could use its vast energy resources to power cryptocurrency mining and generate revenue. According to data from Cambridge University, Russia is one of the world's leading jurisdictions in Bitcoin mining, ranking third in a study published last year. (Decrypt)

6.

Crypto mining company BitNile announced plans to provide up to $100 million in business loans secured by Bitcoin to small public companies with a market value of less than $250 million through its subsidiary Digital Power Lending, LLC. In 2022, BitNile plans to significantly increase its Bitcoin mining capacity, increasing the number of its Bitcoin miners to 20,600, with an estimated mining capacity of approximately 2.24 exahashes per second.

7.

The Blockchain Association, a crypto lobbying group, tweeted that the New York State Legislature is trying to drive crypto mining operations out of the state. If the bill is passed, New York will become the first state in the United States to ban cryptocurrency mining. The bill only addresses the energy use of blockchain and does not involve the impact on the climate. The Blockchain Association is currently working with residents to voice their opinions to the legislature.

8.

Core Scientific, the world’s largest publicly traded bitcoin miner, has begun publishing daily production data on its website in an effort to increase transparency with shareholders and other stakeholders.

The company's CEO Mike Levitt said in a press release that the number is "one of the most important performance indicators in our industry." Core Scientific co-founder and co-chairman Darin Feinstein said Core Scientific is the first publicly traded mining company to disclose its daily mining output.

Core Scientific's website shows in the upper left corner that the company mined 368 bitcoins (about $1.5 million) yesterday, a figure that will be updated at 12 p.m. ET (16:00 UTC). Bitcoin mining companies listed on stock exchanges usually publish monthly data, such as the total amount of bitcoin mined or the daily average, as well as the hash rate and cryptocurrency in the treasury. Core Scientific did not indicate that they plan to publish any daily indicators other than production data. (CoinDesk)

9.

Canadian cryptocurrency miner Hut 8 (HUT) has signed a deal to purchase 960 MicroBT Whatsminer M31S+ mining machines from hosting client TAAL.

The company said the purchase of these machines will increase Hut 8's total computing power by 81 PH/s to 2.62 EH/s. The transaction is expected to be completed on May 1, and Hut 8 will become the owner of these mining equipment without having to pay rent to TAAL. Hut 8's digital asset mining business will achieve 100% self-mining.

According to previous reports, crypto mining company Hut 8 announced that it produced 345 BTC in March, and its current Bitcoin reserves reach 6,460.