The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned crypto mining firm BitRiver, targeting one of the industry’s top data-center service providers over its operations in Russia, Bloomberg reported.
The Swiss-based company BitRiver provides Bitcoin miners worldwide with energy sources, mining facilities, and large-scale management solutions, including those in Eastern Europe and Russia.
Treasury announced restrictions on BitRiver, including 10 of its Russia-based subsidiaries, as the war in Ukraine enters the third month.
The Treasury’s action comes just a day after the International Monetary Fund warned that cryptocurrency mining could provide a way for countries like Russia and Iran to avoid sanctions by diverting natural resources that they can’t export to energy-intensive mining operations like Bitcoin mining.
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