Russia Targets 50,000 Crypto Miners as Mining Banned in 13 Regions with Fines up to $25,000
Russia's stepped-up efforts to crack down on cryptocurrency mining is targeting up to 50,000 unregistered miners...
Quick overview
- Russia is intensifying its crackdown on cryptocurrency mining, targeting up to 50,000 unregistered miners across 13 regions.
- New legislation proposes fines of up to 2 million rubles and prison sentences of up to 5 years for unauthorized mining operations.
- Mining is now permanently banned in two Siberian regions, with authorities citing excessive strain on the energy grid as a primary concern.
- Despite the crackdown, Russia remains a leading country in global bitcoin mining, but the new regulations may disrupt its position in the market.
Russia’s stepped-up efforts to crack down on cryptocurrency mining is targeting up to 50,000 unregistered miners, and the ban on mining has been widened to 13 regions, including parts of Siberia and the Caucasus. The latest draft law put before the State Duma calls for prison sentences of up to 5 years, and fines of up to 2 million rubles for anyone involved in unauthorised operations.
Moscow wants to get a handle on this sector while at the same time redirecting the computing power towards artificial intelligence and other priority state projects, as a result putting both individual and corporate miners under a bit of pressure.
New Legislation Sets to Criminalise Unregistered Mining
Russia’s proposed new law is going to make illegal mining and services that enable it punishable under the Criminal Code. The key points of the new legislation are:
- A fine of up to 2 million rubles for individuals caught mining unregistered will be in place.
- Anyone found guilty of running a mining operation that causes significant losses will face prison sentences of up to 5 years and stiff penalties of 2.5 million rubles.
- Harsher treatment will be dealt out to those who were involved in large-scale operations that netted them a large income.
RUSSIA IMPLEMENTS A PERMANENT BAN ON BITCOIN MINING IN TWO ADDITIONAL REGIONS.
— First Squawk (@FirstSquawk) April 2, 2026
In late 2020 mining in Russia was legalised, but there is a requirement to register with the tax service and pay the correct taxes. However, an official state figure given out way back in 2020 estimated that only about 1,500 miners of the 50,000 active miners in the country were registered at the time – leaving the remaining miners to face the full force of the law.
The new legislation complements other rules governing digital assets in Russia which allow ownership, but ban transactions taking place outside approved intermediaries like online exchanges and brokers. Those who are not classed as qualified investors will face a purchase cap of 300,000 rubles, while those who are qualified investors have no restrictions.
Mining Ban Takes Effect in Siberia
Authorities have moved to turn seasonal restrictions into permanent bans in two Siberian regions, the Republic of Buryatia and Zabaykalsky Krai, from April this year through to 2031. With this move, mining is now prohibited in 13 regions, which include:
- Buryatia and Transbaikal
- Irkutsk region
- Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson
- Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, North Ossetia, and Chechnya
Energy officials have pointed out that mining puts too great a strain on the grid with miners using about 1 GW of power in Moscow and surrounding regions, but producing very little in return in economic terms.
Russia’s Position in The Global Bitcoin Mining Market
Despite the crackdown, Russia remains one of the top three countries for bitcoin mining globally, second only to the US and well ahead of China. Some of the reasons that Russia is so high in the rankings include:
- It has an abundance of low cost, clean energy
- The cooler climate of Russia means that cooling costs for mining equipment are greatly reduced
- Large scale data centres with powerful computing capacity are also in abundance in Russia
However, Moscow’s attempt to put the data centres to more productive use, possibly for AI and other projects, may well displace the miners and directly impact Russia’s control of the global Bitcoin hashrate, which is currently dominated by the US, China, and Russia with 68% of the total share.
Market Impacts on Crypto Traders
The enforcement of registration rules and the bans in various regions will likely have some immediate effects on crypto markets, so traders need to consider:
- A potential drop in global bitcoin hashrate if the miners operating in Russia are forced out of business
- Increased energy costs and business risks for those who continue to mine
- A possible short-term fluctuation in cryptocurrency prices due to reduced supply
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