The Russian crypto sector is expanding. The number of businesses operating mining facilities has increased this year, more Russians own cryptocurrency. Data confirming these trends has been presented by the country’s crypto and blockchain association, which also warned that delayed embrace of digital financial technology costs Russia a trillion rubles each year.
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75,000 Businesses Mine Cryptocurrencies in Russia
The Russian Federation, a vast country rich in energy resources including cheap electricity, has what it takes to become a major crypto mining destination. Recently released statistics show that this modern sector of the economy is rapidly developing.
The number of crypto mining companies has increased by 15% in H1 2018 to a total of 75,000, according to the Russian Association of Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain (RACIB). Quoted by the Prime news agency, the association’s president, Yuri Pripachkin, summarized:
According to the results from the first half of this year, the number of mining enterprises in Russia has increased by 15%, to 75,000. The mining industry already employs 350,000 people. As of July 2018, Russia accounts for about 6% of the world’s mining market, which is 1% more than a year ago, while the US and Canada hold the leading positions.
Pripachkin shared the numbers with reporters on the sidelines of the first meeting of the Council on the Digital Economy of the Federation Council, the upper house of Russia’s parliament. Not everything in his comments, however, sounded optimistic. RACIB’s president warned that Russia actually risks missing the opportunity to become a digital financial leader. He stressed that “digital money is already a given” and Russia’s delay in accepting and adopting it “means a loss
