According to local reports, the Russian government will ban cryptocurrency mining in ten key regions following the recent entry into force of up-to-date industry regulations. It will also introduce seasonal bans in other territories and potentially add more areas to the list as the country’s electricity crisis continues.
Key regions face a 6-year mining ban
On December 24, the local news agency TASS revealed that the Russian government has approved a list of key regions and territories where cryptocurrency mining activities will be banned from January 1, 2025. The ban is aimed at “maintaining the balance of energy consumption” and will remain in force until March 15, 2031.
According to the report, the measure includes a six-year ban on all cryptocurrency mining and mining pool activities in Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, North Ossetia, Chechnya, Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.
Additionally, the ban is temporarily extended to certain territories of Irkutsk Oblast, Buryatia and Zabaikalsky Krai during periods of peak energy consumption. In these areas, a seasonal ban applies from January 1 to March 15, 2025, and in subsequent years from November 15 to March 15.
The government also noted that the list of regions is not final and will be modified depending on the potential development of the electricity sector. Experts told a local news agency that the ban is related “not only to local electricity shortages, but also to electricity payment privileges in some regions.”
Sergei Kolobanov, deputy director of the Center for the Economy of the Fuel and Energy Sector, explained that the ban “is synchronized with the end of the transitional period for the elimination of this benefit.”
Cryptocurrency mining landscape in Russia
In September, Abdulmuslim Abdulmuslimov, prime minister of the southern Republic of Dagestan, urged the Russian government to take decisive action against illegal mining centers in the region, asking authorities to pay more attention to miners’ evolving operating methods.
The following month, Deputy Energy Minister Evgeny Grabchak revealed that the ongoing electricity crisis in key areas had made it virtually impossible to offer enormous capacity by 2030. As Bitcoinist reports, Evgeny Grabchak announced that all types of mining will be banned in certain regions of Russia. following the recently signed law by President Vladimir Putin.
In October, President Putin approved a law regulating digital currency trading, aimed at expanding government control over cryptocurrency mining activities. This legislation came into force on November 1 and allows the Russian government to prohibit mining activities in certain regions or individual territories and to establish conditions and cases for restrictions.
Moreover, the changes enabled the government to regulate the activities of companies providing mining infrastructure. It also allowed the Federal Tax Service to inspect the register of miners, which was managed by the Ministry of Digital Development.
It is worth noting that the register is part of legislation signed in August aimed at giving the mining sector legal status in the country. Since it came into force on November 1, more than 150 companies have applied for a cryptocurrency mining license to legally operate in Russia.
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