Russian Government to Ban Crypto Mining in Some Regions

Published on November 1, 2024
By: Ergim Truefen

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According to the TASS news agency, Russia’s Energy Ministry plans to ban crypto mining in certain regions to address the high electricity consumption it entails. Officials have indicated that mining activities have led to power outages in the Far East and southern Siberia.

Yevgeny Grabchak, a senior Russian Ministry of Energy official, noted that state-level bans are in the works and are expected to remain in place until 2030.

“(Crypto) mining will soon be banned at the state level in some regions… We already have places that are in energy deficits, such as the Far East, Southwest Siberia, and the South. We cannot give large capacities of power to anyone in the long term there until 2030”.

Although some regions have been classified as critical, the ministry has yet to specify the exact locations where crypto mining will be banned.

A few days ago, Izvestia reported that the Federal Tax Service (FTS) will take over the official registration of crypto miners under a new law signed by President Vladimir Putin. Previously, the Ministry of Digital Development handled this responsibility. The law stipulates that domestic miners won’t need to register as long as they stay within the energy consumption limits set by the national government.

Under the law signed by Putin on August 8, Russian legal entities and individual entrepreneurs can engage in cryptocurrency mining. However, the president had previously urged regions to make miners shut down their equipment when necessary. The new bans will transfer this authority from regional governors to the central government.

Just a few weeks ago, the governor of Irkutsk —a region in Eastern Siberia known for its abundant natural resources and located near Lake Baikal— asked Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin for a “complete ban” on crypto mining. This request includes Irkutsk, the Republic of Buryatia, and Transbaikalia, all part of Siberia and the Russian Far East, as reported by Chita Online.

Meanwhile, Kommersant reported that police in the Malinovka region —a small community in Irkutsk’s Cheremkhovskiy district— arrested a man for “illegal crypto mining”. Authorities stated that the electricity company had disconnected the house from the grid due to unpaid bills. However, in March of this year, the defendant illegally reconnected the power and set up around 25 pieces of equipment to mine crypto assets.

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