BitRiver Founder and CEO Igor Runets Detained on Tax Evasion Charges
The founder and chief govt of Russian bitcoin mining agency BitRiver, Igor Runets, has been detained by Russian authorities and charged with a number of counts of tax evasion, based on native media stories.
Key Takeaways:
- BitRiver founder and CEO Igor Runets has been detained in Russia and positioned beneath home arrest on a number of tax evasion expenses.
- The case provides to mounting strain on BitRiver following sanctions, misplaced companions and operational cutbacks.
- Once a significant beneficiary of Russia’s low-cost vitality, the agency now faces authorized, monetary and reputational challenges.
Russian outlet RBK reported on Sunday that Runets was detained on Friday and later charged with three counts associated to the alleged concealment of property to evade taxes.
Citing courtroom supplies, the stories stated the costs have been formally filed on Saturday by Moscow’s Zamoskvoretsky Court.
Court Orders BitRiver CEO Igor Runets Placed Under House Arrest
The courtroom reportedly ordered Runets to be positioned beneath home arrest, a choice that took impact the identical day. His authorized crew has till Wednesday to enchantment the ruling.
If no enchantment is filed, or whether it is rejected, Runets will stay beneath home arrest at some point of the investigation and any subsequent trial proceedings.
Cointelegraph has reached out to Runets for remark, however no response had been acquired on the time of publication.
Founded in 2017, BitRiver grew into one among Russia’s largest bitcoin mining operators, working large-scale information facilities throughout Siberia and providing mining infrastructure providers to company purchasers.
The firm expanded quickly throughout the crypto mining growth, benefiting from entry to comparatively low-cost vitality within the area.
In late 2024, Bloomberg estimated Runets’ web value at roughly $230 million, largely tied to his position within the crypto mining sector.
BitRiver’s fortunes have been beneath strain lately. The firm was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in mid-2022 over its ties to Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. The sanctions restricted its entry to Western markets and companions.
In 2023, Japanese monetary group SBI exited its relationship with BitRiver because it withdrew from Russia.
According to Kommersant, BitRiver later reduce prices, scaled again operations in late 2024 and delayed wage funds to workers.
The agency’s difficulties continued into 2025, when electrical energy supplier Infrastructure of Siberia filed two lawsuits alleging BitRiver didn’t ship gear regardless of receiving advance funds.
BitRiver and Intelion Generate $200M in 2024
As reported, Russia’s industrial crypto mining sector continued to develop in 2024, with the nation’s two largest operators, BitRiver and Intelion, generating a combined $200 million in revenue and accounting for greater than half of the authorized market.
BitRiver remained the market chief, reporting income of roughly $129 million in 2024 and working round 175,000 mining rigs throughout 15 information facilities, drawing 533 megawatts of energy.
The firm’s largest footprint stays in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia’s first main bitcoin mining hub, the place rising exercise has strained the regional energy grid, whereas further services span a number of Siberian and regional places.
BitRiver has additionally begun diversifying its vitality sources, with greater than 30 MW now equipped by related gasoline from oil manufacturing websites.
Intelion posted income of about $78 million, utilizing 298 MW of energy, and recorded the quickest development amongst main miners.
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