Oil workers suggested using associated gas for cryptocurrency mining

by time news

The Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Digital Industry and the Central Bank are discussing a proposal by Russian oil companies to use associated petroleum gas (APG) to generate electricity for data processing centers (DPC), which are needed to mine cryptocurrency. This was reported by “Kommersant” with reference to a letter from the deputy head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Vasily Shpak to the Ministry of Digital Industry and the Central Bank with a request to give their feedback on such a proposal.

The letter says that such a mechanism will increase the efficiency of using natural gas in thermal generation through hybrid modules for mining cryptocurrencies. To implement such a project, it is also proposed to launch the production of power plants in Russia with the possibility of exporting them.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade told the publication that the proposal came from market participants and is now being discussed with regulators. The Central Bank noted that the law “On Financial Assets” suggests that the procedure for the circulation of digital currencies should be regulated by separate laws, approaches to regulation are now being discussed. The Ministry of Digital Affairs did not respond to the request.

The interlocutor of the publication, close to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that one of the large Russian companies would like to scale up its cryptocurrency mining project, but this segment is in a gray legal zone. The company is afraid of a negative reaction from the Central Bank, so it turned to the ministry, which can discuss the risks with the Bank of Russia.

Officially, only Gazprom Neft has a cryptocurrency mining project; it was launched in 2020 at a field in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. According to Forklog, 1.8 BTC was mined in a month. Gazprom Neft itself declined to comment.

Alexander Zhuravlev, Chairman of the Commission on Legal Support of the Digital Economy of the Moscow Branch of the Russian Lawyers Association, explained that mining is not prohibited in Russia, but the circulation of cryptocurrency is limited: it cannot be used as a means of payment or exchange.

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