A Moscow court ordered on July 22 the formal detention of Igor Runets, founder and CEO of BitRiver, Russia’s largest crypto mining operator, escalating his legal status from house arrest. Prosecutors added new fraud charges involving nearly 1 billion rubles, approximately $13 million, related to the alleged supply of mining equipment to entities connected to energy and metals conglomerate En+ Group. Runets had been under house arrest since January 30 on initial tax evasion charges carrying a potential three-year prison sentence. The company’s parent entity, Fox Group, entered bankruptcy monitoring in January with debts exceeding $9 million. Founded in 2017, BitRiver operates 15 data centers with a combined capacity of 533 MW and reported revenue exceeding 10 billion rubles in 2024.
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