Igor Runets, the founder and CEO of Russian bitcoin mining giant BitRiver, has been detained by authorities and charged with multiple counts of tax evasion, according to local media reports.
Russian outlet RBK reported that Runets was taken into custody on Friday and formally charged the following day. The case involves three separate counts tied to the alleged concealment of assets in order to evade taxes, court documents show.
A Moscow court has since placed Runets under house arrest, a measure that took effect immediately. His legal team has until Wednesday to appeal the decision. If the ruling stands, Runets will remain confined to his home for the duration of the investigation and any potential trial.
Runets has not publicly commented on the case. Cointelegraph reached out for a response but had not received one at the time of publication.
The charges come at a difficult time for BitRiver, which has faced mounting legal, financial, and reputational pressure in recent years.
Founded in 2017, BitRiver quickly grew into one of Russia’s largest bitcoin mining operators, building massive data centers across Siberia and selling mining infrastructure to corporate clients. The company’s rise was fueled by access to cheap electricity, which helped it thrive during the global crypto mining boom.
At its peak, Runets was estimated by Bloomberg to be worth around $230 million, largely tied to his stake in the mining business.
But BitRiver’s fortunes began to shift after the U.S. Treasury sanctioned the company in mid-2022 over its links to Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. The sanctions cut BitRiver off from Western markets and partners, forcing the company to rethink its operations.
In 2023, Japan’s SBI Group severed ties with BitRiver as it pulled out of Russia. By late 2024, the company had reportedly scaled back operations, cut costs, and delayed salary payments, according to Kommersant.
The troubles continued into 2025, when regional power supplier Infrastructure of Siberia filed two lawsuits accusing BitRiver of failing to deliver mining equipment despite receiving advance payments.
Despite these setbacks, BitRiver remains a major force in Russia’s crypto mining industry. In 2024, the company and its closest competitor, Intelion, generated a combined $200 million in revenue, accounting for more than half of the country’s legal industrial mining market.
BitRiver led the sector with about $129 million in revenue last year, operating roughly 175,000 mining rigs across 15 data centers and consuming more than 530 megawatts of power. Its largest presence is in Irkutsk Oblast — Russia’s first major bitcoin mining hub — where rapid growth has begun to strain the local power grid.
The company has also started diversifying its energy sources, with more than 30 megawatts now supplied by associated gas from oil production sites.
Intelion, meanwhile, recorded about $78 million in revenue in 2024, using nearly 300 megawatts of power and posting the fastest growth among Russia’s major miners.
