Two government officials of the Crimean Council of Ministers – head of IT department and the department’s head of hardware and technical support - were fired after being caught mining Bitcoin (Bitcoin) using government computers, Bitcoinschannel.com.
“They put malicious software on the server of the Crimean government, which opened access to the information stored on it. Concurrently, more than a dozen computers in the basement of the building were also used which gave this same access,” Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Committee of Crimea, Alexander Akshatin said at a press conference last week in Sevastopol.
As for how much they were able to mine, he said, “I cannot exactly say, but less than one Bitcoin.” He then noted that “in February-March 2017, a Bitcoin was $1800, now it costs $4000. Even half a Bitcoin is some money.”
Akshatin believes that their dismissals will deter anyone from doing the same in the future.
Russian Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev and President Vladimir Putin’s internet ombudsman Dmitry Marinichev have proposed allowing the use of cryptocurrencies in Crimea to attract new investments into the region.
Russia was supposed to consider a bill on to regulate cryptocurrencies last month, but the authorities decided to postpone the plans until next year.