Russian Crypto Miner Bitriver Added to US Sanctions List

The US Treasury has added the holding company of Russian crypto miner Bitriver to its sanctions list as part of the continued efforts to tighten capital controls over the war in Ukraine.

Bitriver, which was founded in Russia in 2017 and has three offices across the country, switched legal ownership of its assets to Swiss holding company Bitriver AG last year.

Bitriver provides hosting services and “turnkey solutions” for crypto mining, data management, blockchain and artificial intelligence operations. The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) is heading the sanctions.

OFAC said it designated the company, including 10 subsidiaries, under an April 15 executive order by President Joe Biden for having operated within the technology sector of Russia’s economy.

The Treasury also said it is taking action against companies in Russia’s crypto mining industry because they help the country “monetize its natural resources,” according to a Wednesday statement.

Dozens of other individuals and entities — including the privately-owned Russian commercial bank, Transkapitalbank, which the department says is “at the heart of sanctions evasions” — have also been slapped with sanctions.

OFAC is tasked with targeting “financial and operational support networks” over attempts to evade US and international sanctions.

“The United States is committed to ensuring that no asset, no matter how complex, becomes a mechanism for the Putin regime to offset the impact of sanctions,” the department said.

Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine sparked condemnation from Western leaders and their allies who are attempting to strangle Russia’s economy through a raft of sanctions designed to bring President Vladamir Putin to the negotiating table.

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