Bitcoin Mining Farms Are Flourishing on the Ruins of Soviet Industry in Siberia

[cryyptoexpert2020]

Built during the Cold War to power Soviet manufacturing, the Bratsk hydroelectric station in Eastern Siberia is now fueling another energy-hungry industry: bitcoin mining.

 Several large mining farms have set up shop in Bratsk, an industrial city on the bank of the Angara River, taking advantage of the region’s low temperatures, which keeps cooling costs down, and the hydro plant’s abundant, inexpensive electricity.

 Bratsk is an example of how the ruins of the Soviet empire have become fertile soil for new, somewhat exotic flowers.

 After the USSR collapsed and parts of the huge, mostly military-oriented industrial sector started to wither in the chaos of the nascent market economy, many factories had to shut down.



 In recent years, miners have taken up some of the slack.

“The surplus of electric power in Russia is huge, due to the closure of some of the Soviet plants and to the fact that energy consumption, in general, became much more efficient over time,” said Dmitry Ozersky, CEO of Eletro.Farm, a mining company building a large venue in Kazakhstan.

 As a result, bitcoin mining farms across Russia now wield a joint capacity of 600 megawatts, accounting for almost 10 percent of the total 7 gigawatts of power supporting the bitcoin network worldwide, said Ozersky, a former banker and top manager at the Russian state corporation Rusnano. His estimate is based on data from manufacturers of specialized mining chips, known as ASICs.

 This number, accounting for about 7 percent of the total hashpower of the bitcoin network, might be 20 percent lower taking into consideration older and less productive miners, Ozersky notes.

 By comparison, farms in China, widely regarded as the world’s mining capital, account for around 60 percent of the total network hashpower, according to the recent report by Coinshares. To be sure, Siberia still has a considerable amount of industrial production, including metals and wood. But the plants that were allowed to die left behind buildings, land and power infrastructure ready for miners to use, turning the region into an international mining hub.

 Multinational containers Driving around a fenced area on the quiet outskirts of Bratsk, we can’t find an entrance.

 The concrete walls and metal gates bear no signs: only authorized and expected guests can enter. My accidental driver, Ivan Kaap, is the head of security at a large mining facility in Bratsk called Bitriver, but we’re visiting his company’s smaller competitor, Minery.

 We call the CEO and he lets us in, to a fenced piece of land with 26 metal containers, buzzing loudly and covered with rotating fans.

Read the full topic at

https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-mining-farms-are-flourishing-on-the-ruins-of-soviet-industry-in-siberia

[Goodcat49]

Chinese are still communists, but have the most of biggest mining pools on the Earth:)
So, this article isn't suprising.