PANews reported on February 2nd, citing Cointelegraph, that Igor Runets, founder and CEO of Russian Bitcoin mining company BitRiver, has been detained and charged with multiple tax evasion offenses. Documents from the Zamosk-Voletsky court in Moscow show that Runets was detained on January 30th, charged on January 31st with three counts of concealing assets and tax evasion, and sentenced to house arrest. Runets' legal team has only a short window to appeal the house arrest, as it will fully take effect on February 4th. If the appeal fails or is not filed, Runets will remain under house arrest for the entire duration of the trial. Founded in 2017, BitRiver has become one of Russia's largest Bitcoin mining companies, operating multiple large data centers in Siberia. Bloomberg reported in late 2024 that Runets' net worth reached approximately $230 million due to his involvement in cryptocurrency mining.