Russia is tightening the screws on crypto mining, and the message in this draft is hard to miss. The Ministry of Justice put forward amendments that would criminalize unregistered mining and unregistered mining-infrastructure operations through a new Article 171.6.
The rationale is straightforward and very state-centric. Authorities are explicitly tying enforcement to energy discipline and tax collection after estimating that about 70% of miners were still outside official registries as of June 19, 2025, contributing to more than $120 million in annual tax losses and added strain on regional power grids.
What Article 171.6 would criminalize
This isn’t aimed only at someone running rigs in a warehouse. The draft targets both illegal cryptocurrency mining and the activities of an unregistered “mining infrastructure operator,” meaning entities that run the facilities, power provisioning, and connectivity that enable mining at scale.
The penalty framework is intentionally tiered to escalate fast with profits and coordination. Basic illegal mining would face fines of 500,000 to 1.5 million rubles (about $5,000–$15,000) or up to two years of forced labor.
Once the draft’s “aggravated” triggers apply, the exposure jumps materially. If authorities classify activity as organized-group conduct or “particularly large” profit above 13.5 million rubles, the draft allows up to five years in prison, fines up to 2.5 million rubles (about $25,000), and up to five years of forced labor.
Why the state is escalating now
This is happening after a clear attempt to formalize the industry rather than ban it. Russia legalized industrial crypto mining on November 1, 2024, and the Federal Tax Service launched registries for miners and infrastructure operators the same day, alongside a 13%–15% tax framework on mining revenues.
What’s changed is the perceived level of noncompliance and the operational externalities. Officials argue that a large share of operators is still bypassing registration and taxation while pushing unplanned load onto local grids, with unregistered farms linked to outages and rising energy costs in some regions, including Siberia.
If this draft progresses, the decision tree becomes binary. Miners will either register and operate inside the tax framework, relocate into licensed facilities, or accept materially higher criminal and operational risk by staying underground.
Enforcement effectiveness, however, will come down to execution capacity. The policy intends to reduce unmetered load and improve grid predictability, but the real impact depends on how effectively authorities can identify illicit sites and successfully prosecute cases.
At a strategic level, the posture has shifted. These amendments would mark a move from “legalize and register” to “comply or face punitive sanctions,” explicitly linking mining activity to energy stability and fiscal control.
