Майнинг криптовалют в России: основателя BitRiver обвиняют в мошенничестве на $12,5 млн

Москва, 24 августа 2026 года. Основатель крупнейшей в России компании по добыче криптовалют BitRiver Игорь Рунец переведен из-под домашнего ареста в следственный изолятор по решению суда в рамках резонансного дела о крупном мошенничестве. Ему инкриминируется хищение средств на сумму 12,5 миллиона долларов, что стало серьезным ударом по имиджу легального майнинга в стране на фоне активного обсуждения регулирования отрасли.

Main Points

• A Russian court changed the preventive measure for Igor Runets: instead of house arrest, the BitRiver founder was placed in a detention center.
• The investigation links the case to the failure to fulfill a contract for the supply of crypto mining equipment to Infrastructure of Siberia, a subsidiary of En+.
• The alleged damage is estimated at more than 1 billion rubles, or about $12.5 million.
• BitRiver and related entities are under pressure not only from the criminal case but also from mining restrictions, financial disputes, and the insolvency procedure of the controlling shareholder.

What Igor Runets Is Accused Of

Igor Runets is charged with large-scale fraud. According to the investigation, the damage arose because the equipment stipulated in the contract was never delivered to Infrastructure of Siberia. This company is part of the En+ orbit, a major industrial holding that produces about 5% of the world’s aluminum and develops projects in digital technologies, the tech sector, and crypto mining.

Law enforcement agencies claim that in 2023, a company associated with Igor Runets signed a contract to supply equipment worth $8 million. According to the investigation, the contract was not fulfilled. This episode became the basis for the new charge and the entrepreneur’s transfer to the detention center.

Previously, Igor Runets had already come under pressure from law enforcement. In February, he was detained and placed under house arrest in three episodes related to tax evasion. In such cases, issues particularly sensitive for business include tax, profit tax, value-added tax, and the overall control regime by the Federal Tax Service of Russia.

How BitRiver Grew on Siberian Mining

Igor Runets is considered one of the prominent participants in the Russian crypto mining market. A Stanford business school graduate, he began building a data center for cryptocurrency mining in Siberia in 2017. That same year, BitRiver was founded.

Over time, the project grew into a network of 15 data centers, where more than 175,000 servers operated. Such infrastructure made BitRiver one of the largest companies in the digital asset mining segment. For a market where Bitcoin remains the main benchmark, such capacity was crucial.

However, development coincided with stricter regulations. After the closure of some mining sites amid a six-year government ban in 10 regions, the company faced financial difficulties. In February, the regional arbitration court initiated bankruptcy proceedings against BitRiver’s controlling shareholder—the Fox group of companies, which owns 98% of the company’s authorized capital.

Why the Case Matters for the Market

The story around BitRiver shows that entrepreneurship in the digital asset sector in Russia is increasingly linked not only to energy and infrastructure but also to the legal status of market participants. For regulators, it matters who is conducting the activity: a legal entity, a limited liability company in Russia, or an individual entrepreneur in Russia.

For miners and mining farm owners, the main practical takeaway is this: digital asset mining in Russia is under supervision, and in certain regions, there are restrictions. Therefore, legal form, tax discipline, equipment contracts, and access to energy-intensive infrastructure come to the fore.

• Before launching or scaling a mining farm, it is important to consider who is conducting the activity: a legal entity, a limited liability company in Russia, or an individual entrepreneur in Russia.
• The tax aspect may involve profit tax, value-added tax, and oversight by the Federal Tax Service of Russia.
• The profitability of the project depends not only on equipment but also on energy costs, data center operations, and regional restrictions.
• The main risks for market participants are tax claims, contract disputes, bankruptcy of related structures, sanctions, and restrictions on energy-intensive mining.

The overall regulatory environment also affects the industry. Rules for cryptocurrency and mining are set by several agencies and institutions:

• The Government of the Russian Federation.
• The State Duma.
• The Central Bank.
• The Federal Financial Monitoring Service.
• The Federal Tax Service of Russia.

The focus remains on compliance with the Federal Law of the Russian Federation, tax discipline, and risks associated with money laundering.

Additional pressure on the sector comes from sanctions related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as restrictions on energy-intensive mining in certain regions. Several territories are mentioned in the public domain for such measures:

• Buryatia—restrictions are linked to energy-intensive mining.
• Irkutsk Region—restrictions are linked to energy-intensive mining.
• Donetsk People’s Republic—restrictions are linked to energy-intensive mining.
• Luhansk People’s Republic—restrictions are linked to energy-intensive mining.

Against this backdrop, the case of Igor Runets has become not just a dispute over equipment supply but another signal for the entire Russian crypto mining market.

{
«@context»: «https://schema.org»,
«@type»: «Article»,
«about»: [
{
«@type»: «Thing»,
«name»: «Mining»
},
{
«@type»: «Thing»,
«name»: «Cryptocurrency»
},
{
«@type»: «Place»,
«name»: «Russia»
},
{
«@type»: «Organization»,
«name»: «Federal Tax Service of Russia»
},
{
«@type»: «Thing»,
«name»: «Bitcoin»
},
{
«@type»: «Organization»,
«name»: «Government of the Russian Federation»
},
{
«@type»: «Organization»,
«name»: «Federal Financial Monitoring Service»
},
{
«@type»: «Place»,
«name»: «Buryatia»
},
{
«@type»: «Place»,
«name»: «Irkutsk Region»
},
{
«@type»: «Thing»,
«name»: «Money Laundering»
}
]
}