Cryptocurrency miners in Russia appear to be unaffected by the current cryptocurrency mining crisis given the increase in domestic demand for mining hardware during the fourth quarter of 2022.
Encounter some cryptocurrency mining hardware distributors in Russia Significantly increased demand for ASIC chips (application specific integrated circuit) designed for mining.
Local distributor Chilkoot said ASIC’s sales in November and October exceeded its total sales in the third quarter. For the past nine months, the distributor will 65% more devices sold than in 2021.
“We work with legal entities and we see that they start buying 30% more equipment in one transaction than at the beginning of the year,” says Artem Eremin, Head of Development at Chilkoot.
BitRiver, the largest Russian data center dedicated to cryptocurrency mining, has seen a significant increase in demand, growing by 150% in the past 10 months.
Russia’s increased demand for cryptocurrency mining hardware comes at a difficult time for the mining industry, as total bitcoin (BTC) mining revenue hit a two-year low in late November. Even some mining companies, including Argo Blockchain and Core Scientific, have questioned the possibility of continuing to operate due to the Huge losses Because of the current cryptocurrency bear market.
Russian miners may have stockpiled more and more ASICs, thanks to the low prices of mining equipment and cheap energy.
51ASIC co-founder Mikhail Brezhnev has been quoted as saying that bitcoin mining in Russia can be profitable despite the huge drop in the price of bitcoin. According to the executive, 1 BTC is mined for $0.07 per kilowatt-hour using state-of-the-art equipment. It could bring in about $11,000. At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $16,975, down about 70% from last year, according to data from CoinGecko.
The industrial mining market in Russia has benefited from the current market situation, reiterates Vladislav Antonov, financial analyst at BitRiver. He noted that the demand for ASIC equipment in the wholesale sector has increased due to lower purchase prices, close to the cost of production. “This is the best entry point for investments”quotes the expert.
According to Antonov, entering the mining industry during a bear market can generate “Big profit by tens of percentage points” over a period of three years.