News Snapshot:
In a letter to Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak quoted by the Irkutsk region’s irk.ru news website, Kobzev raised the alarm over an “avalanche-like increase in electricity consumption by ‘underground miners’ at consumer prices.” The warning to Moscow from Irkutsk region governor Igor Kobzev comes a month after China’s central bank ruled all financial transactions involving cryptocurrencies illegal. The surge is exacerbated by China’s ban on crypto mining “and the relocation of a significant amount of equipment to the Irkutsk region due to geographical proximity,” Kobzev wrote. The Irkutsk region’s energy consumption so far in 2021 is up by 159%...
