Reference News: Cold weather and low electricity costs attract Bitcoin mines in Russia to attract "miners" from all over the world

According to a report by US media on December 3, energy-intensive cryptocurrency mining has found an ideal home in the Russian city of Bratsk, where the weather is cold and electricity is cheap.

The region’s largest data center, BitRiver, has only been open for a year but has already won clients from all over the world, including the United States, Japan and China, most of which are engaged in the bitcoin mining industry, Bloomberg News website reported Nov. 24.

BitRiver reportedly rents a building near the Bratsk Aluminum Plant, the world's largest aluminum smelter, which was built by the Soviet Union in the 1960s along with a nearby hydroelectric power station because energy is the largest cost in the aluminum smelting industry.

Three tiers of racks line the walls of the 100-megawatt mining facility, filled with ASICs and power equipment. Industrial fans are scattered throughout the building to provide the necessary cooling for the machines as they mine cryptocurrency.

A team of on-site engineers monitors and routinely checks ASIC devices and power equipment 24 hours a day. They wear hearing protection to block out the noise from the mining machines and cooling fans.

Although the number of cryptocurrencies and tokens has increased dramatically and now numbers in the thousands, Bitcoin remains the most famous, valuable, and time-tested cryptocurrency.

The Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Station is located on the Angara River, and the region's hydroelectricity is one of the cheapest in the world. In addition to power supply, another reason that makes Bratsk an ideal place for cryptocurrency mining is the Siberian climate. The winter here is long and cold, and the low temperature is a favorable factor for data center equipment.

Although Russian law does not recognize cryptocurrency mining, BitRiver itself does not engage in mining, but only provides equipment and technical services for data centers, which means its business is legal. Workers set up new racks to increase the capacity of the mining facility. BitRiver said it currently has more than 20,000 mining equipment and has space to accommodate up to 67,000 equipment.