Bitcoin (BTC) mining company BitRiver claimed in a statement today that the sanctions imposed on them by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) were made to support American companies.
Igor Runets, CEO and founder of the company, said in a statement that BitRiver’s parent company is based in Switzerland and “never served Russian government agencies” and does not currently work with any sanctioned institutions.
“US Sanctions Us To Support American Bitcoin Mining Companies”
Runets continued his words on the subject as follows:
“These steps taken by the USA cryptocurrency It should be seen as a flagrant intervention in the mining industry and as a step taken to tip the global balance of power in favor of American companies, which causes unfair competition.”
In a statement made yesterday, OFAC said companies like BitRiver “helped Russia monetize its natural resources” and decided to add BitRiver and 10 of its subsidiaries to the list of sanctioned institutions.
However, the US Treasury Department has stated that it will not allow any financial assets to be used by Vladimir Putin to evade sanctions.
With this step, the US has imposed sanctions on a company from the cryptocurrency industry for the first time since the start of the war between Ukraine and Russia.
BitRiver, one of Europe’s largest Bitcoin mining companies, currently operates six data centers and three data centers are under construction.
*Not investment advice.