BitRiver, Russia’s largest Bitcoin miner, is facing bankruptcy over an unpaid debt of $9.2 million.

In a separate development, the firm’s founder, Igor Runets, is said to be under house arrest amid allegations of possible tax fraud.

Reports in Russia suggest BitRiver’s parent company, Fox Group LLC, has been sued by Infrastructure of Siberia, a subsidiary of energy provider EN+.

It is alleged that Infrastructure of Siberia paid 700 million rubles ($9.2m) to BitRiver for mining equipment, which was never delivered.

This claim was apparently upheld by a court in April 2025, and it has since been found that BitRiver does not have sufficient assets to pay the debt, so bankruptcy proceedings have commenced.

BitRiver’s operations had already been crippled by bans on crypto mining in various Russian regions. The company is thought to have operated 15 data centers with a total IT capacity of 533MW, powering more than 175,000 mining rigs.

However, its data centers in the Irkutsk region shut down due to the ban in the region, and the 100MW facility in Buryatia never got up and running. A 40MW data center in Ingushetia was closed down by police last year, having been operating illegally, it has been reported.

Meanwhile, founder Runets has been under house arrest since January 31, with police investigating whether he hid assets to avoid paying tax.

Despite these troubles, several parties are said to be interested in purchasing BitRiver and its remaining assets, and talks over a takeover are ongoing.