History of garage mining in Russia

[FP91G]

Usolye-Sibirskoye is a city in the Irkutsk region of Russia with a population of less than 100,000 people.
Iskutsk is known for its cheap electricity prices in Russia.
For individuals in a garage, the price is about $0.017 per kilowatt.

In one of these garages there were approximately 9 ASICs with a consumption of 20-30 kilowatts per hour, and this garage was located next to the courthouse.
As a result of the fire, no one was injured, except for the ASICs and the garage, but there are many such stories in Irkutsk.


in Russian
https://bits.media/v-usole-sibirskom-zagorelas-pristroyka-k-zdaniyu-mirovogo-suda-iz-za-podpolnogo-mayninga/

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[Marvelman]

Wow, that's quite a situation! Those super cheap electricity prices gotta be bringing in some monster crypto mining operations.  Makes me wonder:

How often do people around there end up setting up mining rigs in their garages and stuff because of the low prices? Is it like a common thing for folks to do since electricity doesn't cost much? Do they have any rules or safety measures for people doing mining in residential spots? 

I'm real curious if its widespread or if it's just a few folks trying to cash in.   But hey, cheap powers a nice perk if you can make some crypto money off it!

[shield132]

Wow, that's quite a situation! Those super cheap electricity prices gotta be bringing in some monster crypto mining operations.  Makes me wonder:

How often do people around there end up setting up mining rigs in their garages and stuff because of the low prices? Is it like a common thing for folks to do since electricity doesn't cost much? Do they have any rules or safety measures for people doing mining in residential spots? 

I'm real curious if its widespread or if it's just a few folks trying to cash in.   But hey, cheap powers a nice perk if you can make some crypto money off it!

Monster crypto mining companies don't need to move in different areas to get cheap electricity. All they need is some corruption and agreement with positions and they get cheap electricity. Russia is also very corrupt country and don't think that you just go in Irkutsk and start mining. Local people of the city can probably mine some coins without any permission. This is only my expectation.

It's very common for people to set up mining rigs in their garage if they have low electricity prices. In small countries someone in IT always has a friend who has a friend that lives in a place where electricity is cheap. These friends together start a small mining farm.

[TheUltraElite]

I was thinking OP to put up a nice story of cheap electricity and much coins mined by them garage owners in Putin's land.

On seeing the images under this notion, I was like why the hell do these ASICs look so banged up and then I noticed the word "fire" and understood the rest.

Well, fire is a creator and a destroyer and like all electronics fire is a constant worry and whenever you are dealing with small spaces and electricity, things can get out of hand.

Luckily no one got hurt. Its rare to get cheap electricity and its a boon for such cities, unlike most people.

[NotFuzzyWarm]

And that (fire) is exactly what happens when folks who have no idea what they are doing try to DIY high power electrical circuits....
I DO hope they've learned a lesson (though I also doubt it...).

[philipma1957]

And that (fire) is exactly what happens when folks who have no idea what they are doing try to DIY high power electrical circuits....
I DO hope they've learned a lesson (though I also doubt it...).

Nah they will gamble and play Russian Roulette with the circuit breakers.


It is the nature of people. Not Just Russians.


here is a cable thief

https://punchng.com/man-gets-electrocuted-while-attempting-to-steal-cable/

[NotFuzzyWarm]

They ^^ should have moved the body away from the power lines but left it up there as a stark warning to others and to showcase how stupid the thief was....

[philipma1957]

They ^^ should have moved the body away from the power lines but left it up there as a stark warning to others and to showcase how stupid the thief was....

yeah. your life for under $100 in cable seems like a bad deal to me.

[FP91G]

Wow, that's quite a situation! Those super cheap electricity prices gotta be bringing in some monster crypto mining operations.  Makes me wonder:

How often do people around there end up setting up mining rigs in their garages and stuff because of the low prices? Is it like a common thing for folks to do since electricity doesn't cost much? Do they have any rules or safety measures for people doing mining in residential spots?  

I'm real curious if its widespread or if it's just a few folks trying to cash in.   But hey, cheap powers a nice perk if you can make some crypto money off it!

If you had electricity at $0.017 per kilowatt or slightly less, would you not be mining?
In Irkutsk in recent years, only lazy people have not invested in mining. In fact, there are a lot of such cases, and that’s why energy workers have started hunting for miners.
I'll tell you that electricity in the village is even 20-30% cheaper 

[Marvelman]

...to showcase how stupid the thief was....

Stupid? Definitely! But also a bit unlucky.

According to Idemudia, the vandal was cutting the transformer cable and, suddenly, electricity supply was restored to the area.

He probably did not expect the power company to deliver such a shocking performance. 

[tjtonmoy]

Damn that image hurt my eyes. But it hurts my soul even more. I have never been able to join any kind of mining because it is not allowed where I live. But what you can do with this mining rig makes me think. And now it is all burnt to crisp. So the provided link is in Russian language and I can't translate it. It just won't let me translate it. So mind if anyone tell me what happened here?

I live in Bangladesh and the price of electricity is much cheaper than Russia but it is unfortunate that we can't mine here.

Bangladesh, March 2023: The price of electricity is 0.053 U.S. Dollar per kWh for households and 0.085 U.S. Dollar for businesses which includes all components of the electricity bill such as the cost of power, distribution and taxes. For comparison, the average price of electricity in the world for that period is 0.158 U.S. Dollar per kWh for households and 0.164 U.S. Dollar for businesses. We calculate several data points at various levels of electricity consumption for both households and businesses but on the chart we show only two data points. For households, the displayed number is calculated at the average annual level of household electricity consumption. For businesses, the displayed data point uses 1,000,000 kWh annual consumption.

Source: Click here

[FP91G]

Damn that image hurt my eyes. But it hurts my soul even more. I have never been able to join any kind of mining because it is not allowed where I live. But what you can do with this mining rig makes me think. And now it is all burnt to crisp. So the provided link is in Russian language and I can't translate it. It just won't let me translate it. So mind if anyone tell me what happened here?

I live in Bangladesh and the price of electricity is much cheaper than Russia but it is unfortunate that we can't mine here.

Bangladesh, March 2023: The price of electricity is 0.053 U.S. Dollar per kWh for households and 0.085 U.S. Dollar for businesses which includes all components of the electricity bill such as the cost of power, distribution and taxes. For comparison, the average price of electricity in the world for that period is 0.158 U.S. Dollar per kWh for households and 0.164 U.S. Dollar for businesses. We calculate several data points at various levels of electricity consumption for both households and businesses but on the chart we show only two data points. For households, the displayed number is calculated at the average annual level of household electricity consumption. For businesses, the displayed data point uses 1,000,000 kWh annual consumption.

Source: Click here

According to your data, the price of electricity in Bangladesh is $0.053 and in the Irkutsk region of Russia $0.017.

The article says that one of the private garages in which there was illegal mining burned down. The causes of this fire are usually the negligence of the owners, resulting in a short circuit.
There are thousands of such garages in the Irkutsk region, although mining in garages is prohibited

[tjtonmoy]

According to your data, the price of electricity in Bangladesh is $0.053 and in the Irkutsk region of Russia $0.017.

Sorry my bad, I missed the (0) after the decimal point. I thought it was $0.17 so I assume that it was way cheaper for us at only $0.053. it was a bit of misunderstanding from my side. So apologies.

The article says that one of the private garages in which there was illegal mining burned down. The causes of this fire are usually the negligence of the owners, resulting in a short circuit.
There are thousands of such garages in the Irkutsk region, although mining in garages is prohibited

I can't quite remember in which video but it was in a video of electroboom on YouTube. If you don't know who he is, you can give a search and you will find out. He makes great content and it's quite entertaining. But that's not what I'm discussing here. In one of his video he said that, the power that the government provides are not regulated and none of the outlet in Russia has any kind of fail safe in case of electric short circuit. I guess that could be the reason why this happened. Maybe that's why they can have cheap electricity in Irkutsk.

[FP91G]

According to your data, the price of electricity in Bangladesh is $0.053 and in the Irkutsk region of Russia $0.017.

Sorry my bad, I missed the (0) after the decimal point. I thought it was $0.17 so I assume that it was way cheaper for us at only $0.053. it was a bit of misunderstanding from my side. So apologies.

The article says that one of the private garages in which there was illegal mining burned down. The causes of this fire are usually the negligence of the owners, resulting in a short circuit.
There are thousands of such garages in the Irkutsk region, although mining in garages is prohibited

I can't quite remember in which video but it was in a video of electroboom on YouTube. If you don't know who he is, you can give a search and you will find out. He makes great content and it's quite entertaining. But that's not what I'm discussing here. In one of his video he said that, the power that the government provides are not regulated and none of the outlet in Russia has any kind of fail safe in case of electric short circuit. I guess that could be the reason why this happened. Maybe that's why they can have cheap electricity in Irkutsk.

In Russia, the same short circuit protection equipment is used as in European countries, but you understand one thing: these are tools for household use. In mining, they have false positives, so only such standard switches are used in mining
https://www.lavprisel.dk/schneider-ic40n-automatsikring-1pn-13a-hvid-91213?
In garages, common wires are not designed for such loads. You cannot replace these wires, and therefore miners take risks. If your neighbors also want to mine, the wires will overheat and there will be a fire. Many garages have begun to install power consumption limiters, but the garage electrician has to turn it on many times after a shutdown, and he is not always on duty in garages.

[stompix]

In Russia, the same short circuit protection equipment is used as in European countries, but you understand one thing: these are tools for household use. In mining, they have false positives, so only such standard switches are used in mining
https://www.lavprisel.dk/schneider-ic40n-automatsikring-1pn-13a-hvid-91213?

I see 13A, I scroll back to the camp fire, yeah, makes sense.  
Oh and, 16/25 is more of the new norm.

I live in Bangladesh and the price of electricity is much cheaper than Russia but it is unfortunate that we can't mine here.
Bangladesh, March 2023: The price of electricity is 0.053 U.S. Dollar per kWh for households and 0.085 U.S. Dollar for businesses

Unlimited or it has consumer bracket and different tariffs if exceeding those limits?
Makes little sense for a poor and net importer country to offer highly subsidized unlimited electricity.

So mind if anyone tell me what happened here?

The guy doing the wiring was so drunk he understood overcook instead of overclock.  

[philipma1957]

In Russia, the same short circuit protection equipment is used as in European countries, but you understand one thing: these are tools for household use. In mining, they have false positives, so only such standard switches are used in mining
https://www.lavprisel.dk/schneider-ic40n-automatsikring-1pn-13a-hvid-91213?

I see 13A, I scroll back to the camp fire, yeah, makes sense. 
Oh and, 16/25 is more of the new norm.

I live in Bangladesh and the price of electricity is much cheaper than Russia but it is unfortunate that we can't mine here.
Bangladesh, March 2023: The price of electricity is 0.053 U.S. Dollar per kWh for households and 0.085 U.S. Dollar for businesses

Unlimited or it has consumer bracket and different tariffs if exceeding those limits?
Makes little sense for a poor and net importer country to offer highly subsidized unlimited electricity.

So mind if anyone tell me what happened here?

They guy doing the wiring was so drunk he understood overcook instead of overclock. 

hmmm burnt rubber tasty.

[tjtonmoy]

Unlimited or it has consumer bracket and different tariffs if exceeding those limits?
Makes little sense for a poor and net importer country to offer highly subsidized unlimited electricity.

The internet connection has improved a lot right now. You can also see the broadband connection in village areas. That's not the issue anymore. But yeah, we are limited by how much energy we can consume. Despite being cheap, it is a 3rd world country so here to local people, it is not as cheap as we think. And there isn't always proper energy flow. We face load shedding here and there, mostly in village areas. Maybe not the proper environment for mining I reckon.

They guy doing the wiring was so drunk he understood overcook instead of overclock. 

Lol. This cracked me up so hard. Thanks for making my day.

[TheUltraElite]

And there isn't always proper energy flow. We face load shedding here and there, mostly in village areas. Maybe not the proper environment for mining I reckon.

Sadly the situation is not that good in Bangladesh added to it the government's involvement in outlawing crypto use. You end up risking you neck for nothing and as long as the economy remains like it is, the government stance will not change there. Situation is similar in most of the developing countries in SEAsia and some of the African countries where poverty is common and bitcoin has been the buzz word but only for scamming those people by MLM/HYIPs.

Ice cold temperatures in Russia sounds like a boon but getting electricity and laborers working is good condition there is tough. One thing cancels the other and the optimum situations to mine is still being searched for by many companies out there.

[FP91G]

And there isn't always proper energy flow. We face load shedding here and there, mostly in village areas. Maybe not the proper environment for mining I reckon.

Sadly the situation is not that good in Bangladesh added to it the government's involvement in outlawing crypto use. You end up risking you neck for nothing and as long as the economy remains like it is, the government stance will not change there. Situation is similar in most of the developing countries in SEAsia and some of the African countries where poverty is common and bitcoin has been the buzz word but only for scamming those people by MLM/HYIPs.

Ice cold temperatures in Russia sounds like a boon but getting electricity and laborers working is good condition there is tough. One thing cancels the other and the optimum situations to mine is still being searched for by many companies out there.

If you believe the news that Russia ranks 2nd in mining in the world, then mining companies do not have such problems.
Each company has a contract for a certain power consumption and their data cents are well designed and protected. Although I heard that in Europe data centers are burning. The last major fire was in a large data center in Strasbourg in 2021.
I wanted to tell you how private miners work in Russia, and what risks they take to engage in mining.

[TheUltraElite]

If you believe the news that Russia ranks 2nd in mining in the world, then mining companies do not have such problems.

I dont know the actual metrics to be able to confirm or deny this, but as per the data on this website, it says that USA is the first and China has been the second and before this the opposite was true, the Chinese have lost their dominance as the first in the recent years.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1200477/bitcoin-mining-by-country/

Each company has a contract for a certain power consumption and their data cents are well designed and protected. Although I heard that in Europe data centers are burning. The last major fire was in a large data center in Strasbourg in 2021.

Havent heard such news for long indeed, the European centers must have better setups and fire prevention.

I wanted to tell you how private miners work in Russia, and what risks they take to engage in mining.

Thankfully no one got hurt in the above incident.