n Bitcoin Mining Assessed Amid Conflict With e, Large ETH Pool Cancels Service to

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n Bitcoin Mining Assessed Amid Conflict With e, Large ETH Pool Cancels Service to

With the conflict between  and e, many observers are curious about the large quantity of hashrate located in , as the region reportedly controls the third-largest sum of SHA256 hashpower worldwide. Furthermore, on February 24, the ethereum mining operation Flexpool announced it has halted services to  entirely. “We apologize to our n miners; many of you do not support the war — However, it is you who are supporting your nation,” Flexpool told its customers.

Faces a Wave of Economic Sanctions, SWIFT Still Accessible

All eyes are focused on the battle between  and e this week and after Vladimir Putin’s troops invaded e, a large swathe of countries have started to impose and threaten economic sanctions. The n ruble has been feeling the wrath of volatile markets, ’s stock market shuddered and UBS cut ’s bond market down to zero.

The European Union handed down economic sanctions against , and U.S. president Joe Biden revealed America would sanction the country as well. Despite the U.K. begging the SWIFT payment network to ban , the country is still allowed to leverage the financial system. Crypto advocate and Shapeshift founder Erik Voorhees made fun of the fact that  was still allowed to transact with SWIFT.

“Apparently ’s actions are so egregious that the West has decided to permit  to continue using the SWIFT Network,” Voorhees tweeted.

Commands a Significant Portion of Hashrate, Putin Claims Region Has ‘Competitive Advantages,’ Compass Mining Says Team’s Operators ‘Isolated From Geopolitical Unrest’

Furthermore, cryptocurrency advocates have been discussing ’s hashpower as the country reportedly holds the third largest quantity of hashrate worldwide. That statistic stems from the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI) data that was published in July. A myriad of mining operations mine cryptocurrencies from , as electricity is very cheap. For instance, Bitcluster has operated in  since 2017 with over 20,000 mining devices and it offers hosting at $0.062 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).

A mining operation called Vekus leverages the n oil drilling subsidiary Gazpromneft in order to mine bitcoin. At the end of last month, n president Vladimir Putin explained that  has “competitive advantages” when it comes to cryptocurrency mining. The mining operation Compass Mining also hosts bitcoin miners in the Siberian region. On Thursday, Whit Gibbs from Compass Mining explained on Twitter that the company’s facilities in Siberia were “well isolated from any geopolitical unrest.” Gibbs added:

Compass has confirmed with our partners that all miners are safe and will continue running as normal.

The media is already talking about  leveraging cryptocurrencies and crypto asset mining to avoid sanctions. According to the blockchain intelligence firm Elliptic, Iran utilized bitcoin mining to avoid economic sanctions. Last week, the Biden administration told semiconductor manufacturers that they should “diversify their supply chain” and at the same time, the California-based technology company Intel announced the launch of bitcoin mining chips.

Large Ethereum Mining Pool Bans All n IPs

Amid the conflict between e and , Bitcoin’s hashrate has dropped a hair since reaching an all-time high on February 15, 2022. On that day, six-month charts show the hashrate tapped 249.75 exahash per second (EH/s) and today it is down 26% since that high, at 182 EH/s. While bitcoin miners seem to be unaffected by the situation in e, on Thursday the ethereum mining operation Flexpool announced it will be cutting off n ethereum miners. Flexpool is currently the fifth-largest ethereum miner in terms of ETH hashrate.

“While there is little we can do, it would be wrong to profit off of it or fund it indirectly. We are canceling service to all n IPs and paying out outstanding balances,” Flexpool’s announcement notes. “We apologize to our n miners; many of you do not support the war. However, it is you who are supporting your nation. Without the people,  cannot operate. It is only through reducing the economic power of its people that we have a chance of affecting this war. We thank you for your loyalty, and I hope you understand that we do not make this decision lightly.”

What do you think about the conflict in e and the possibility of  avoiding sanctions with cryptocurrencies? What do you think about the issue affecting crypto miners operating in ? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Source: n Bitcoin Mining Assessed Amid Conflict With e, Large ETH Pool Cancels Service to