BitRiver's Chief Executive Faces House Detention Over Tax Evasion Allegations: Media Reports
Igor Runets, the chief executive of BitRiver, has been placed under house detention by Moscow's Zamoskvoretsky Court following accusations of tax evasion.
Igor Runets, who founded and currently serves as CEO of BitRiver, a Russian cryptocurrency mining company specializing in Bitcoin, has been taken into custody and is now facing several tax evasion allegations, according to media reports.
Based on reports published by Russian news sources including RBK and Kommersant on Sunday, authorities detained Runets on Jan. 30, and he now confronts three separate charges related to the alleged concealment of assets in order to avoid paying taxes.
These media outlets reference judicial records from Moscow's Zamoskvoretsky Court, revealing that formal charges were filed against Runets on Jan. 31, with the court issuing an order for house arrest on that same date.
The legal representatives for Runets have been given a brief opportunity to challenge the house arrest ruling before it takes full effect on Feb. 4. Should the appeal prove unsuccessful or not be submitted, Runets will be required to remain confined to his residence throughout the duration of the legal proceedings.
Cointelegraph has reached out to Runets for comment.
Established in 2017, BitRiver has grown into one of Russia's most prominent Bitcoin mining operations, running extensive data center facilities throughout Siberia while also offering cryptocurrency mining infrastructure services to various corporate clients.
Towards the end of 2024, Bloomberg published a report estimating that Runets' personal wealth had reached approximately $230 million, accumulated through his participation in the cryptocurrency mining industry.
Issues piling up for BitRiver
The company has encountered numerous obstacles ever since the US Treasury Department initially imposed sanctions on the operation in mid-2022 as a response to the ongoing Russia and Ukraine conflict.
By May 2023, SBI, a prominent Japanese banking institution and one of BitRiver's significant customers, discontinued its use of the company's mining infrastructure for Bitcoin operations after withdrawing from Russia due to the continuing conflict.
According to the report published by Kommersant, BitRiver implemented cost reduction measures throughout its organization and reduced the scale of its operations as 2024 drew to a close, which subsequently resulted in salary payments to staff members being delayed.
At the beginning of 2025, the company faced two separate legal actions initiated by Infrastructure of Siberia, an electricity supply company, which alleged that they had made payments to BitRiver under a contractual arrangement for the purchase of equipment but failed to receive the promised equipment despite fulfilling their payment obligations.