Igor Runets, the founder of Russia’s largest cryptocurrency mining company BitRiver, has been moved from house arrest to a pre-trial detention center by the Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow, according to local media reports. The stricter measure comes as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into alleged fraud linked to a mining equipment deal with an En+ subsidiary.
Investigators claim Runets and his company were involved in a transaction that caused 1 billion rubles ($12.5 million) in damages. The charges fall under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Russian Criminal Code — fraud on an especially large scale committed by an organized group, which carries a possible penalty of up to 10 years in prison.
This detention represents an escalation of legal troubles for Runets and BitRiver. In late January 2026, Runets was already placed under house arrest for two months on separate tax evasion allegations. Simultaneously, BitRiver’s parent company Fox Group entered bankruptcy observation after an arbitration court ruling in April 2025 awarded an En+ affiliate 954.4 million rubles (approx. $11.9 million) over an undelivered equipment contract. The criminal fraud case is distinct from the civil bankruptcy proceedings, and while the arbitration judgment established a contractual failure, investigators have not yet published which specific representations are considered deceptive or how Runets is personally tied to the transactions.
BitRiver, which operates large-scale Bitcoin mining data centers, has faced external pressure before: in April 2022, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Bitriver AG and 10 Russia-based subsidiaries over national security concerns, limiting its access to international partners. Domestically, over 5,500 miners have now entered an official registry, increasing transparency and regulatory oversight. The combination of criminal charges, creditor claims, and sanctions creates significant governance and financial uncertainty for one of the most prominent players in Russian industrial mining.
