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Authorities in the Russian region of Irkutsk have so far filed 1,000 lawsuits against what they call “grey” miners, or people who mint coins in their homes. In more than half of these cases, the courts have ordered the defendants to compensate the operators of the distribution networks.
Electricity distributors in the Siberian Irkutsk Oblast have filed their 1,000th lawsuit against consumers illegally mining cryptocurrency in residential areas. In 600 of these, judges have ordered the so-called “grey” miners to pay a total of more than 260 million rubles ($3.5 million) in compensation for losses and damages.
The most common reason for going to court is an unusually high use of electricity, the regional news portal Irk.ru reported. Such is the recent case of the owner of a house in the village of Novaya Razvodnaya, whose average monthly electricity consumption during one year reached almost 80,000 kWh, exceeding the total number burned by the other 15 homes in the same street.
The man denied any wrongdoing and claimed he was not mining cryptocurrencies, but was using heat guns to dry out the basement. The Irkutsk Regional Court did not accept his explanation, and as a result he must pay the local power plant, Irkutskenergosbyt, more than 2 million rubles (about $27,000).
The amount will cover the difference between the subsidized electricity prices for household purposes, which can be as low as $0.01 per kWh in rural areas, and the much higher tariffs that businesses are required to pay.
Over the past couple of years, authorities have attempted to crack down on home cryptomining in the region, which has become a popular source of extra income for a growing number of people. Officials believe that regulation of mining in Russia and the introduction of differentiated prices, depending on consumption, will help to solve the problem.
Quoting Deputy Energy Ministry Pavel Snikkars, Russian press reported in December that electricity distribution companies have begun to identify improvised mining farms in residential buildings due to the increased load on the grid at substations and are now prosecuting the illegal miners.
While cryptomining is not yet regulated in Russia, with a dedicated bill under consideration in parliament, such activities are not explicitly prohibited at the moment. Nevertheless, utilities can still prove in court that these consumers are not using the power for household needs and ask to charge them at commercial rates.
Do you think Russian authorities will continue to crack down on amateur crypto miners? Share your thoughts on the topic in the comments section below.
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