Russian nuclear engineer Denis Baykov, who works at the Sarov nuclear base, was fined $7,000 for illegally using the plant’s supercomputers for bitcoin mining as we are about to read in the bitcoin news now below.
According to the Moscow Times, Baykov used the nuclear power plant’s supercomputer without anyone knowing to mine bitcoins. According to the reports, Baykov accessed the supercomputers on September 17th to mine bitcoins which is a violation of the plant’s rules regarding the computer operation. Sarov which is located about 250 miles outside of Moscow, is one of the oldest nuclear bases. A nuclear center is also a place where the Soviet Union created the first atomic weapon back in 1949 and it is the home of many powerful supercomputers. Baykov is the latest Russian nuclear engineer at the center that is fined for diverting computing resources to mine bitcoin.
The other two scientists at the base- Andrei Shatokin and Andrei Rybkin are also facing charges related to illegal bitcoin mining and both of them are still waiting for the decision of the court. According to Alexei Kovalyov, the defense counsel for one of the accused scientists stated that his client wanted to avoid detection and had successfully mined some bitcoins before being caught. Kovalyov’s pointed to the fact that perhaps someone inside the base ratted out the Bitcoin miners by adding:
‘’I can say one thing for sure: they were not detained on the first day they began to mine.’’
The top-secret Russian nuclear weapons facility is only one of the locations from the many bizarre locations for bitcoin mining around the world. The activity seems to no longer be restricted in mining farms for places such as China and North America. Instead, there is an increase in crypto mining activities in college dorms and workplaces where the electricity is cheaper and there is decent internet connection. The bitcoin miners in Iran earlier this year used mosques to mine because of the free electricity.
This trend led the authorities to enact special electricity tariffs for crypto miners and this act also led to the legalization of the industry in Iran in particular where the government offers a substantial tax holiday to miners to repatriate their earnings as reported in the latest blockchain news.
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