2,700 Crypto Rigs Seized: Russia’s Biggest Mining Raid of the Year

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So, Russia just decided to do some spring cleaning and-surprise!-they found about 2,700 crypto mining rigs in St. Petersburg. How do you hide 2,700 machines? Apparently, with a good fan collection, some cooling gear, and a couple of transformers. (Because why not? 🤷‍♀️)

The cops swooped in after noticing something fishy about the power meters. Low readings, high usage-classic red flag for any energy inspector worth their salt.

Crypto Rigs Raid: St. Petersburg’s Hidden Mining Haven

It all started when energy inspectors thought, “Hey, these readings are a little too good to be true,” and launched an investigation. The site had been chugging along since 2018, with three mysterious locals supposedly signing the lease on the electric grid connection seven years ago. What could go wrong, right? 🤔

Crypto Rigs Seized in St. Petersburg

The raid footage is now on Telegram (because where else would you go for your daily dose of drama?), showing the cops doing their best “Mission Impossible” impression-breaking open containers, throwing a guy to the floor (we assume for his own good, though we can’t be sure). Inside the containers? A mini-BattleBot army of running machines. Cool, right?

Meter Tampering & A Whole Lot of Drama

According to the Interior Ministry, the masterminds behind this operation were playing Sherlock Holmes with the power grid, tampering with meters so they could pull off the greatest heist since… well, ever. Power meters were showing low consumption, but the real consumption? Way higher. Because when you want to secretly mine crypto, nothing says “low-key” like bypassing the electric grid. 🙃

Crypto Mining Machines

These criminal masterminds were arrested, because of course they were. They’ve been charged with “property damage by deception” or “abuse of trust.” Prosecutors are not messing around. But don’t worry, there’s still no official word on how much electricity they actually stole-or which crypto coins they were mining. The mystery continues…

Mini Crypto Havens Across Russia

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Across Russia (and places under Moscow’s control), similar shady setups are popping up like mushrooms. In mid-September, police uncovered a small operation in Donetsk, where 25 rigs were running wild, bypassing meters. The damage? A casual 14 million rubles, or about $170k. Pocket change, right? 🙄

And if that wasn’t enough, some miners have been hiding their rigs in places that make you wonder if they watch too many spy movies: underground, in trucks, or even vans. Dagestan, the North Caucasus, and Southern Siberia seem to be the go-to spots for these rogue miners, thanks to their cheap-or very poorly monitored-power supply. Guess they didn’t get the memo about the whole “keep it legal” thing. 😬

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2025-10-08 19:10