Despite the fact that mining is an energy-intensive activity, coupled with the volatile nature of cryptocurrencies, it is quite surprising why many are still looking to mine cryptocurrencies. Perhaps, many of these companies and individuals believe in the future of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin that it is going to have another bull-run any time soon.
In fact, there are experts saying that some Bitcoin miners may opt to shut their mining hardware down once Bitcoin hits around $5,000 since it isn’t too profitable for them anymore. Josh Metnick who is the CEO of RandomCrypto even released a tool that helps calculate the overall profitability of Bitcoin mining. This new calculator aims to give miners an idea if an equipment is actually worth buying.
Russia’s Increasing Number of Miners
In Russia, there is an increasing number of companies interested in cryptocurrency mining. According to Russia’s top digital currency association, the number of Russian crypto miners increased by 15% in the first quarter of the year.
Yuri Pripachin who is the president of the Russian Association of Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain announced that Russia now has 75,000 mining companies. Russia is also showing signs that it is becoming a serious player in the world’s crypto mining market. According to the latest numbers, Russia accounts for 6% of the entire world’s mining industry.
Aside from Russia’s tendency to start crypto mining operations, Russia also increased the number of cryptocurrency owners, not to mention the number of crypto-related businesses in the country. The number of cryptocurrency users in the first quarter of the year increased from 2.5 million to 3 million.
Russian Regulations
There’s news that Russia is aiming towards regulating the industry. In fact, there is a report saying that Russia is potentially expanding the crypto market. And also, Russia is a perfect spot where miners could actually operate. It has both cheap electricity and a cold weather. And for this reason, it has attracted a good number of crypto mining companies lately. There are around 350,000 Russians who are employed by Russian crypto mining companies. And considering this current trend, it is possible that the numbers are still growing.
Why Adopt Cryptocurrencies?
For Russia, it is a must that it adopts cryptocurrencies soon. According to Yuri Pripachkin, he stated that Russia is about to lose trillions of rubles if they don’t adopt a crypto regulation soon. Ultimately, this means that it can be detrimental to the Russian economy.
And in reality, this is quite synonymous to the European Parliament’s report. According to the European Parliament, it’s a mistake to actually ban cryptocurrencies. Countries, instead, should come up with rules and regulations that will take control of the industry.
Countries from different parts of the world are doing what they can to regulate the industry. However, many have reservations when it comes to mining activities. If you will look at the energy consumption of Bitcoin, for example, it can consume as much energy as an entire country. Now, that can be a problem for some countries. In fact, it can even increase the cost of electricity in most occasions.
