Japanese online broker SBI to withdraw from Russia’s crypto mining industry.
Amid mounting uncertainty over the future of such investments due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, as well as decreased mining profits, the financial firm said it plans to sell its equipment and withdraw.Access to low-cost power and suitable climatic conditions made Russia an attractive destination for cryptocurrency miners when China cracked down on the industry in May of 2021.
One of the largest mining data-center operators with significant presence in Russia, Switzerland-based Bitriver, wasby the U.S. Treasury Department this spring. Then the U.S. company Compass Mining sought to liquidate $30 million in mining hardware installed in Siberia in order to avoid Western sanctions.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has created uncertainty over the prospects of the mining business in the energy-rich region, while the crypto market’s downturn has made it less profitable to mint digital currencies, a representative of SBI, the biggest online broker in Japan, told Bloomberg. Chief Financial Officer Hideyuki Katsuchi unveiled that the company plans to sell its equipment and withdraw from Russia.
SBI entered the digital asset space earlier than other Japanese financial firms, but this year’s negative developments have led to a pre-tax loss of 9.7 billion yen from its crypto business in the second quarter, when the group also registered a 2.4 billion yen net loss , a first in a decade. The Japanese brokerage suspended its mining activities in Siberia shortly after the war in Ukraine broke out, but it is yet to decide by when it will complete the withdrawal from Siberia, Katsuchi noted. The financial company has no other crypto business in Russia, the executive pointed out, but it intends to continue operating its Moscow-based commercial banking unit, SBI Bank. The move comes after in July, U.S.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Bitcoin mining stock report: Friday, August 19Here's how crypto mining companies performed on Friday, August 19.
Read more »
Bitcoin mining stock report: Thursday, August 18Here's how crypto mining companies performed on Thursday, August 18.
Read more »
US lawmakers eye environmental impact of crypto miningHouse lawmakers sent letters to four crypto mining companies this week, seeking to learn more about the environmental impact of proof-of-work operations.
Read more »
Why bitcoin miners in Texas are getting paid not to mine bitcoinRiot Blockchain reported recently that in July it made $9.5 million worth of 'power credits' in Texas. What exactly are these power credits?
Read more »
Crypto's collapse isn't solving the ransomware problemCompanies have been struggling to fight off an abundance of ransomware hackers in recent years, but recent optimism over a crypto-crash-fueled drop in attacks might be short-lived.
Read more »
$550 Million in Crypto Liquidated as Bitcoin and Ethereum Plunge SignificantlyBitcoin and Ethereum slump 7.5% and 6.6%, together with 550 million wiped out in liquidations. NaeemAslam23 DeItaone
Read more »