Irkutskenergosbyt, the state-owned power company in Russia's mining hub of Irkutsk, has identified approximately 8,000 suspected illegal cryptocurrency mining sites, with the actual number potentially higher. Residents have reportedly disguised the surge in electricity usage by attributing it to activities such as charging electric vehicles, heating chicken coops, or drying wood for construction. Equipment has been discovered in unconventional locations, including greenhouses, paper mills, forest thickets, and abandoned gas stations.