Siberians Use Cryptocurrency Miners to Heat Homes

RT has reported that citizens of the Russian city of Irkutsk in Siberia have been using cryptocurrency mining to heat their homes. Irkutsk has attracted many cryptocurrency miners due to the city’s cheap power prices.

Also Read: Bitcoin ATMs On the Rise in Russia

Two Irkutsk Entrepreneurs Have Developed an Underfloor Heating System Connected to Mining Hardware

Local entrepreneurs, Ilya Frolov and Dmitry Tolmachyov, have developed a functioning prototype for an underfloor heating system that utilizes the heat generated by cryptocurrency miners. Frolov discussed their prototype with local media, stating “usually mining machines are cooled by blowers; the heat is then released to the atmosphere. We consider this not rational or ecological, that’s why we’ve implemented a concept where the heat from computing operations is used for peaceful purposes of warming houses.”

Frolov and Tomachyov have stated that they intend to construct around 2,000 “cryptohouses” by 2020 – with each unit providing heat through mining.

RT Reports That More Than One Thousand People Are Mining Cryptocurrency in Irkutsk

The city is reported to be describing itself as “Russia’s informal mining capital,” and is home to a cafe that accepts bitcoin. Irkutsk will also soon host a bitcoin ATM, which was indicated in early October by Anton Friedel – the director of Russian start-up Bbfpro, a company that recently installed ten bitcoin ATMs in Russia’s third most populous city.

Frolov asserts that many cryptocurrency miners are drawn to Irkutsk by the city’s low energy costs – with RT reporting that power prices in Irkutsk are approximately one-fifth of those in Moscow. “The profitability of computing calculation at times exceeds the cost of electricity, that’s why it is rational to use it this way,” Frolov stated. In recent weeks, Mybroadband.co.za published a story featuring a quote from Yury Dromashko, a Russian who sold an apartment to raise the capital needed to establish a bitcoin mining farm in Irkutsk. Mr. Dromashko stated that “mining is a promising business that helps Russians earn hard currency.”

What do you think of Siberians using cryptocurrency miners to heat their homes? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, RT

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