Russian bank moves to bankrupt BitRiver founder over $9 million debt

Mining giant BitRiver’s founder Igor Runets is facing a bankruptcy procedure initiated by a major Russian bank whose claims exceed $9 million.

The crypto entrepreneur was detained earlier this year over alleged tax evasion as well as large-scale fraud with damages amounting to $12 million.

PSB files for bankruptcy of BitRiver’s boss

PSB Bank, one of the largest lenders in Russia, has filed a bankruptcy petition against Igor Runets, the founder and chief executive of BitRiver.

The petition was submitted to the Arbitration Court of Sverdlovsk Oblast on November 3, the country’s official news agency TASS reported Wednesday.

According to the filing in the registry of arbitration cases, the bank’s claims exceed 770 million rubles (almost $9.3 million), the business news portal RBC highlighted.

BitRiver is the largest crypto mining firm in the Russian Federation, engaged in industrial minting of digital currencies, both reports noted.

The companies in the group provide various services, including connection, hosting and maintenance of mining equipment in its data processing centers.

Two years ago, BitRiver managed a total of 15 such facilities with a combined capacity of 533 MW. At the time, its data centers hosted 175,000 hardware units.

While headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, the company’s main operations were based in Russian regions offering low-cost energy and cool climatic conditions like Siberia.

The Odessa, Ukraine-born Igor Runets established BitRiver in 2017. In the fall of 2024, his net worth was estimated at $230 million.

The now 40-year-old Russian businessman was detained in Moscow at the end of January 2026 for evading taxation and initially placed under house arrest.

BitRiver saga continues to unfold

Simultaneously, Russian authorities launched formal bankruptcy monitoring of BitRiver entities, which held the leading spot among members of the growing mining sector, the first crypto industry legalized in Russia.

In February, the Federal Tax Service (FNS) filed a bankruptcy petition against the BitRiver-B subsidiary in the Republic of Buryatia, citing 3.6 million rubles (nearly $44,000) of outstanding debt, Bits.media recalled in a post.

In July, Runets was also charged with large-scale fraud for the failed delivery of crypto mining hardware and transferred to a permanent detention facility, as previously reported by Cryptopolitan.

The coin minting equipment had been ordered by companies from the En Holding, the large energy and metals producer founded and still controlled by the Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.

Bankruptcy procedures against the Fox group, BitRiver’s owner, had been already initiated on the request of Infrastructure of Siberia, an entity from the En holding.

The latter accused the miner of failing to fulfill contractual obligations. The Arbitration Court of the Sverdlovsk region deemed the creditor’s claims valid and declared the company bankrupt.

Sources familiar with the investigation told RBC that Fox was supposed to supply mining equipment worth over $8 million and was paid the bulk of that sum.

The buyer received neither the promised hardware, nor the money back. Its total damages from the deal amounted to nearly 1 billion rubles (more than $12 million).

Investigators are convinced that Igor Runets never actually intended to fulfill the contract or return the prepayment. Instead, BitRiver’s boss used the funds for other purposes.

Besides, Fox had already accumulated an estimated debt of more than $9 million and was unable to secure sufficient funds to pay it off.

The group and En also had a joint venture called Bit , which they created in 2019 to engage in cryptocurrency mining together, but Fox pulled out of the project.

An interim manager appointed by the court to seek solutions for BitRiver, including through change of ownership, has reportedly alleged that its bankruptcy may have been intentional.

Many of the participants in the still unfolding saga have been targeted in western sanctions imposed over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, including PSB, formerly Promsvyazbank, and BitRiver itself.

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