SBI lost 40% of its hash rate after Russian mining shutdown: Data

After ending mining operations in the mineral-rich Russian region of Siberia in February, SBI continues to engage in some mining activities in the country.

Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings has partially halted cryptocurrency mining in Russia due to geopolitical uncertainty and the crypto winter.

SBI Holdings has suspended mining operations in Russia's crypto-rich region of Siberia, citing reasons including the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and the ongoing bear market, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

The Japanese online brokerage shut down Siberian mining operations shortly after the start of a Russian military intervention in Ukraine on February 24, a spokesperson for the company reportedly said.

The termination contributed to SBI's crypto assets business posting a pre-tax loss of 9.7 billion yen ($71 million) in Q2 202. As a result, the Sumitomo-backed group Mitsui Financial Group posted a net loss of 2.4 billion yen ($17.5 million). losses, posting its first quarterly loss in a decade.

Reports of SBI's mining suspensions in Siberia match public mining information from SBI's crypto-mining subsidiary, SBI Crypto. According to data from blockchain explorer BTC.com, SBI Crypto's mining hash rate has dropped by around 40%, from 5,600 petahashes per second (PH/S) in mid-February to 3 300 PH/S on August 18, 2022.

SBI Six Month Mining Hash Rate Crypto. Source: BTC.com

After shutting down some mining operations in Siberia, SBI reportedly still has mining operations in Russia, according to Bloomberg. SBI CFO Hideyuki Katsuchi reportedly revealed the company's plans to sell crypto mining hardware and pull out of the country altogether earlier this week.

The SBI has not yet decided when it will complete its withdrawal from Siberia, an SBI spokesperson reportedly said. The company has no other crypto business in Russia and plans to continue operating its Moscow-based commercial bank...