Russia will prohibit cryptocurrency mining and participation in mining pools across Moscow, the entire Moscow Oblast, and selected parts of Kursk Oblast from Aug. 15 through the end of 2032, placing the country’s largest urban power market under one of its longest regional mining restrictions.
Government Decree No. 936, dated July 25 and published on Russia’s official legal information portal, applies to Moscow and all of the surrounding Moscow region. In Kursk Oblast, the order covers eight municipal districts and the city of Lgov.
The measure targets electricity demand from mining in areas where grid capacity is increasingly being shared by households, industry and data centers. It also prevents affected operators from joining mining pools, closing off a route that could otherwise allow local hardware to remain connected to Bitcoin and other proof-of-work networks through pooled operations.
Grid constraints drive the Moscow-area prohibition
Russia’s Energy Ministry had proposed a year-round ban in late June, warning in an explanatory note that electricity shortages could emerge in the listed regions without restrictions on mining activity.
The decision focuses on a metropolitan area where demand is expected to rise well beyond residential use. Sergei Voropanov, Moscow Oblast’s energy minister, has estimated that cryptocurrency mining may account for around 1 gigawatt of electricity consumption on the Moscow-area grid.
Voropanov has also projected that total data-center capacity in Moscow and Moscow Oblast could reach 3.6 GW by 2032. That would equal about 17% of the grid’s projected maximum load capacity, according to his estimate, although the figure includes data-center operations beyond cryptocurrency mining.
The comparison illustrates the pressure facing regional planners. Mining equipment can be deployed quickly and run continuously, while conventional data centers increasingly support cloud computing, telecommunications, artificial intelligence services and corporate infrastructure. A blanket mining prohibition gives authorities a way to reserve capacity without trying to distinguish, site by site, between different types of high-intensity computing loads.
The Aug. 15 start date follows an earlier plan to introduce the restrictions in July. Authorities delayed the implementation date to give companies time to disconnect and relocate equipment, according to the supplied account. The extension offers a short operational window for operators with installed facilities, though moving industrial mining hardware requires new premises, power connections and network capacity outside the restricted territories.
A longer-term regional policy
The Moscow and Kursk restrictions extend Russia’s regional approach to mining regulation rather than creating a nationwide shutdown. Russia began imposing mining limits in late 2024 in regions facing electricity shortages, including several energy-constrained areas and parts of Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory.
Some earlier restrictions run until 2031, while others are seasonal and apply during periods of peak electricity demand. The Moscow-area measure is more extensive in duration, remaining in force through Dec. 31, 2032.
That difference reflects the nature of the constraint. Seasonal restrictions are designed to limit demand during winter or other high-load periods. A year-round prohibition assumes that the authorities view the affected grids as needing capacity protection throughout the year, particularly as data-center demand grows.
Mining companies that want to continue operating would need to shift hardware to regions with available power and a regulatory framework that permits industrial mining. Such moves can change an operator’s cost structure, since electricity prices, grid-connection terms, cooling needs and transport expenses vary sharply across Russia’s regions.
The decree may also increase the advantage held by miners that already operate near generation sources or in regions with surplus electricity. Smaller operators with equipment in Moscow-area facilities could face higher relocation costs and periods of downtime before their machines resume hashing.
Registration rules remain in place elsewhere
Russia legalized a regulated form of industrial mining in 2024, allowing companies and entrepreneurs to mine if they are entered in a special state registry. Individuals who are not registered are subject to electricity-consumption thresholds.
The Moscow-area ban sits alongside that national system. Registration may allow a business to operate legally in regions where mining is permitted, but it does not override a territorial restriction introduced to protect local power capacity.
Authorities added another layer of oversight in July 2025 by creating a nationwide registry for mining equipment. The equipment registry is intended to identify operators, monitor electricity usage and support tax enforcement. Together with the mining registry, it gives the government more visibility into a sector that historically included many small and semi-formal operations.
The combination of regional bans and national registration creates a more selective framework for mining. Russia is allowing the activity as a regulated industrial business in suitable areas while excluding it from grids that officials consider vulnerable to shortages.
Digital-asset rules continue to evolve
The mining order arrives amid broader legislative activity around digital assets. Russia’s State Duma passed legislation last month that, if enacted, would permit regulated retail cryptocurrency trading while preserving the domestic ban on using cryptocurrency for payments.
That proposed trading framework and the mining restrictions address separate parts of the crypto economy. One concerns access to regulated trading services, while the other controls the physical electricity demand created by proof-of-work mining. Their parallel development shows how Russian policy is becoming more segmented: digital-asset activity may be permitted under defined conditions, but power-intensive infrastructure remains subject to regional planning priorities.
The decree also follows a high-profile legal case involving Igor Runets, founder of mining company BitRiver. A court recently transferred Runets from house arrest to pre-trial detention. Investigators allege that an equipment transaction involving energy conglomerate En+ caused 1 billion rubles in damages, roughly $12.5 million based on the figure supplied.
The case is separate from Decree No. 936, but it adds pressure on a mining sector already adapting to tighter state scrutiny, mandatory registries and location-specific power restrictions.
For Moscow-area operators, the practical deadline is now clear: mining hardware must be disconnected or moved before the Aug. 15 prohibition begins. The policy gives regional authorities a long-term tool to manage electricity demand while pushing legal mining activity toward parts of Russia with more available generation and grid capacity.
As Russia tightens mining rules, diversify your crypto exposure by exploring crypto and DeFi in 2025 insights.
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