Russian Prison Officials Running Crypto Mining Seized

• Many Russians are turning to subsidized and even unauthorized power.
• Machines used over 8,400 kW of power paid for by the government.

The Butyrskaya jail in central Moscow’s Tverskoy District is under scrutiny for a high-ranking prison official’s crypto mining farm. The oldest Russian jail, also known as Butyrka, was constructed in the faraway year 1771.

The Federal Penitentiary Service’s mental clinic had the coin minting equipment discovered on the clinic’s premises. According to the business newspaper Kommersant, the Russian Investigative Committee is presently looking into the abuse of authority against one of the deputy wardens.

Power Outage Issues on the Rise

As of now, investigators have determined that the official, together with his collaborators, installed the mining equipment in November of 2021. From January through February of this year, the mining rigs were mining cryptocurrencies.

Machines used over 8,400 kW of power paid for by the government at a total cost of more than 62,000 rubles (nearly $1,000) during that time period. The deputy warden is accused of “actions that clearly go beyond his powers, thereby significantly violating the legally protected interests of the society or the state,” as a result.

Many Russians are turning to subsidized and even unauthorized power to mine cryptocurrencies as an extra source of income. The illicit activity is concentrated in Krasnoyarsk Krai and Irkutsk Oblast, which have long maintained cheap power tariffs for the people and governmental institutions.

Legal and illegal miners have been accused of frequent power outages in residential areas where the electrical systems cannot manage the increased demand. Russia’s anti-monopoly agency has advocated raising power costs for home crypto miners to combat the practice.