Russian authorities are weighing starting to mine Bitcoin BTC/USD after recently suggesting they may use cryptocurrencies in an effort to diminish the country's reliance on the United States dollar.
What Happened: Deputy minister of Industry and Trade of Russia Vasiliy Shpak filed a proposal with the Russian central bank and the Ministry of Digital Development to use the nation's oil field equipment for mining Bitcoin, according to a Kommersant report.
The proposal was filed on Sept. 7 and asked for government feedback on the initiative.
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The proposal — if approved — would see associated gas used to power nearby Bitcoin mining farms. This kind of gas is a byproduct of oil drilling that is often wasted through flaring by burning it off because of the expense of building gas transport infrastructure.
The project reportedly involves “one of Russia’s largest oil companies,” which is now refraining from scaling such operations due to a lack of regulatory certainty. The report also follows Russia's President Vladimir Putin statement that cryptocurrencies have value and that he accepts their use for payments.
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