Russia goes after illegal miners with new registry for crypto mining rigs

Government departments in Russia have created a special register for coin mining equipment to help local authorities in their efforts to curb illegal mining activities.

The initiative of the executive power in Moscow comes amid an ongoing crackdown on miners working outside the law in Russian regions, often powering their crypto farms with stolen electricity.

Russia registers mining hardware to track down rogue miners

Russia’s Ministry of Energy, the Federal Tax Service (FNS) and the Ministry of Digital Development have compiled a register of devices used for cryptocurrency mining, RIA Novosti reported, quoting Deputy Energy Minister Petr Konyushenko.

The gathered information has already been shared with authorities in the Russian regions witnessing increased miner activity, the government official revealed in an interview with the leading news agency, elaborating:

“The creation of such a register will allow us to accurately identify consumers using electricity for mining needs. This is necessary in order to apply special regulation and taxation to those.”

Konyushenko described the move as a step towards legalizing the whole industry while reducing the illegal consumption of electricity, which has been blamed for losses for the power distribution companies and the state as well as energy deficits in parts of the country.

The energy ministry pitched the idea to establish a unified register of mining equipment during a working meeting on the regulation of digital currency extraction in February. The proposal was also backed by the Russian Ministry of Industry in May.

Russia legalized cryptocurrency mining with a law adopted in the summer of 2024. It allows both companies and individual entrepreneurs to legally mint digital coins in the Russian Federation, provided they register with the tax authority and pay due taxes.

Private citizens are allowed to mine without registration as long as their electricity consumption does not exceed a limit set by the government, which is currently 6,000 kWh a month. However, all miners, including the latter, are obliged to inform the FNS about the amount and the value of the mined cryptocurrency.

Moscow cracks down on illegal crypto farms amid mining ban

Russia, which has established itself as a major player in the global Bitcoin mining market over the past few years, has been struggling to bring its miners out of the shadows ever since it legalized the industry last year.

Less than a third of all Russian mining enterprises have so far registered with the FNS and the new register of mining machines aims to increase the share of legal mining businesses.

Other Russian authorities have also joined the hunt for underground miners. In June, the national grid operator Rosseti announced it’s developing a mechanism to pinpoint illegal mining facilities by tracking internet traffic with the help of telecom companies and mobile operators.

To limit the negative consequences of the mining boom, which has caused electricity shortages, the Russian government has also imposed seasonal and permanent restrictions on the activity in parts of the vast country. Mining has been completely banned for six years in a dozen regions.

This week, President Vladimir Putin justified the measures with the need to balance the exploitation of Russia’s natural resources. At a forum devoted to discussing development initiatives, Putin said that governors have been complaining about growing energy deficits and admitted:

“We were forced to make certain decisions in the mining sphere.”

Meanwhile, Russian law enforcement and other officials have been cracking down on mining facilities illegally tapped into electricity networks in energy-deficient regions.

Last month, the authorities in Krasnoyarsk Krai, a major mining hotspot in Siberia, busted a massive crypto farm occupying almost 30,000 square meters of land, officially registered as a non-residential building on an industrial plot.

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