Can BRICS miners really win the hashing war and bypass sanctions?
TheBRICSsummitinKazan,Russia,raisedtheissueofinternationalsanctionsandcapitalcontrols.Bitcoin(BTC)miningwasraisedaspotentiallybypassingthesanctions. BRICSmaybringbackdominanceinBitcoin(BTC)miningandusethevaluablecoinsasbettingchipsforinternationalfinance.TheformationofaBRICSgroupasanalternativetoWesterneconomicregionsraisesthequestionofsanctionsandcross-bordercapitalcontrols,whichareoftencircumventedwithcryptousage. IfBRICScountriesmanagetomineBitcoin,theycouldfindbuyersandbypasssomeofthesanctions,expertssuggested.Thistimearound,BRICScountriesmaynotrelyonvoluntarymining.RussianminerswereamongearlycryptoadoptersandusersinthefirstyearsofBitcoin,butthecountrymayaimtobecomeabiggerplayerinmininggeopolitics. Despitethefearsofexperts,itishighlyimprobablethatBRICScountriescouldfloodthemarketwithnewlyminedcoins.Withatransparentblockchain,someofthetransactionsmaybetracked,andexchangescanchoosetoblacklistwallets.BTCisalsotraceableandexchangesmayrefusetocarryouttradesiftheoriginofthecoinsisunknown. EvenOTCtradesmaynotbefreelyavailable.Cryptocoinsandtokenshavebeenusedtobypassbordercapitalcontrols,buttheymaynotbeenoughtobypassglobalsanctions.OnlyVenezuelahastestedusingstablecoinsasanalternativeforoilsales. Russiapreparesfortighterstatecontrolonmining Russia’sbiggestdatacenteroperator,BitRiver,hasbuiltapartnershipwiththeRussianDirectInvestmentFundtobuildminingandAIfacilitiesacrossBRICSnations.TheshifttominingacceptancefollowsapreviouscrackdownonRussianminers,includingthoseinresidentialareas. BitRiveroperates21datacentersinRussia,withanother10underconstruction.Thefirmhasreceivedstatebackinginadrivetoboostthenumberofreliable,high-powerdatacenters.Datacentercompetitionisaworldwidetrend,withtheUSAstillretainingthelead. FromNovember1,Russiawillhavearegistrationregimeforlarge-scaleminingoperations.Miningfarmswillhavetoregisterwithtaxauthorities,whileindividualminerscangowithoutregistration,butmayfacerestrictionstoelectricityaccess. Thestatealsopreservestherighttoissueatotalbanonminingactivities,ifdeemednecessary.Cryptominingisusingup1.5%ofRussia’selectricity,closetotherangeofUSminingtakingupbetween0.6%and2.3%oftotalconsumption. CanBRICSminersreallycompete? DespitethecallforBRICSminers,thosecountriesarelaggingwhenitcomestoBitcoininfrastructure.Brazil,Russia,India,China,andSouthAfricaarenotevenhostingBitcoinnodes,asseenonthelivemap.Thismaymeanminerslocatedinthosecountriesareusingothernodesasaservice,orlinkingtobiggerminingpools. Miningoperationsarealsoblurringtheboundaries,asevenRussianfarmscanjoinanypool.Despitethis,poolslikeFoundry.USAreliesonlocalBitcoinproductionandhassomeofthemostdevelopedmininginfrastructure. NewlyminedBTCmayalsobehighlyvaluable,asithasnotbeentiedtoanyusersorwallets.BRICSminerscouldsellthecoinsontheOTCmarket,orusethemfortrading.TheproblemisthatBTCisnotvaluableenoughtosustainat-scaleinternationaltrading,atleastnotatitscurrentprice. BRICScountrieshaveoneadvantage–mostarehighinthecryptoadoptionbusiness.Russiahasanindexof7,surpassingmostEuropeancountries.Indiaisrankedat1,duetoretailusageandmemetrends.Othercountriesalsousevariouscryptoassets,despitegrayareasinregulations.ChinahasgrownitsusageofUSDTfortradingande-commerce,butalsoasaninformaltooltobypasscapitalcontrols. However,BRICScryptomarketsarewildlydisparateandmaynotturnintoaunifiedblocofminers.Additionally,eveniftheycouldminesuccessfully,theBitcoinrewardshavefallento3.125BTCperblock,limitingthepotentialearnings.TheoneadvantageisthatBitmain’smachinesmaybeeasilyaccessible.Beijing-basedBitmainhassofarnotdeniedanyinternationalminerstheirshipments,andsuppliesmostofthebigminingfarmswithequipment. cryptopolitan.com