Key facts
- Igor Runets, founder of BitRiver, has been moved to pretrial detention in Russia.
- He faces charges of large-scale fraud.
- Investigators allege he caused over 1 billion rubles ($12.5 million) in damages.
- The charges relate to an unfulfilled $8 million equipment supply contract from 2023.
- BitRiver is one of Russia's largest crypto mining companies.
A Russian court has moved Igor Runets, the founder of the country's largest crypto mining company BitRiver, to a pretrial detention facility. Runets faces charges of large-scale fraud, with investigators alleging he caused damages exceeding 1 billion rubles (approximately $12.5 million) by failing to fulfill an $8 million equipment supply contract entered into in 2023 with a company within Oleg Deripaska's industrial group. Prosecutors allege that Runets did not intend to fulfill the agreement after receiving the payment and instead used the funds for personal spending. Founded in 2017, BitRiver operates mining data centers and supplies crypto mining devices in Russia. The new charge adds to a broader criminal case against Runets, who was previously detained over separate tax-related allegations. BitRiver has recently faced significant pressure, including a government ban on crypto mining across several regions and insolvency proceedings against its controlling shareholder, Group of Companies Fox.