Power consumption surges in Russian Bitcoin mining hotspots

Odaily Planet Daily News A new study conducted by credit rating company ACRA Ratings shows that Russian Bitcoin mining hotspots consume more energy than ever before, and cryptocurrency adoption continues to grow across the country. The annual energy consumption growth rate of the Republic of Ingushetia in the North Caucasus "surged" by 40.8%, the study shows. Russian-occupied Crimea ranks second in the electricity consumption table, with a growth rate of about 14%. However, most of the other regions in the top eight energy consumption rankings are more closely linked to the cryptocurrency mining industry. Kabardino-Balkaria, ranked third, saw an 11.5% increase in energy consumption, and Chechnya, another North Caucasus republic, ranked fourth with a growth rate of 10.5%. The Altai Republic ranked fifth, with a year-on-year increase of 10.3%, the Republic of Buryatia ranked seventh, with a year-on-year increase of 8.3%, and Irkutsk Oblast ranked eighth, with a year-on-year increase of 7.8%. Rostov Oblast in southeastern Russia is another anomaly, ranking sixth with a growth rate of 8.5%. Interest in cryptocurrency mining in Crimea and Rostov seems to be rising. Last August, it was reported that about 3% of all new cryptocurrency mining machine purchases in Russia currently come from the Rostov region, and 14.5% of new cryptocurrency mining machine orders in "southern Russia" last year came from Crimea. (TASS)