The founder and CEO of Russian Bitcoin mining company BitRiver, Igor Runets, has been ordered to remain under house arrest by a Moscow court. He faces three charges of tax evasion for allegedly concealing assets. The court’s decision, reported on Sunday, follows Runets’s detention on January 30. This development adds to the operational and legal challenges facing one of Russia’s largest crypto mining firms.
A Moscow court has reportedly ordered BitRiver CEO Igor Runets to remain under house arrest. He faces three charges for allegedly concealing assets to evade taxes.
Runets was detained on January 30 and formally charged the following day. The Zamoskvoretsky Court of Moscow ordered the house arrest on January 31.
His legal team can appeal the ruling before it becomes fully enforceable on February 4. If the appeal is unsuccessful, Runets will remain confined to his home for the duration of the case.
BitRiver was founded in 2017 and operates large-scale data centers in Siberia. It provides crypto mining services to other companies and became a major name in Russian Bitcoin mining.
Runets’s net worth was estimated at around $230 million in late 2024 according to a Bloomberg report. The firm has faced significant challenges since being sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2022.
One major client, Japanese banking giant SBI, stopped using its services in May 2023. The company reportedly began cost-cutting and experienced delayed salary payments by late 2024.
BitRiver is also facing two lawsuits from electricity provider Infrastructure of Siberia. The suits allege the company failed to deliver equipment after receiving payment.
