MOSCOW (Realist English). From 15 August, mining digital currencies, including participation in mining pools, has been banned in Moscow, the Moscow Region and parts of Kursk Region. The corresponding government resolution, signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, was published on 31 July on the official portal of legal acts.
The restrictions will remain in effect until 31 December 2032.
Where exactly the ban applies
The ban applies to:
| Region | Territories |
| Moscow | Entire city territory |
| Moscow Region | Entire region territory |
| Kursk Region | Belovsky, Bolshesoldatsky, Glushkovsky, Korenevsky, Lgovsky, Rylsky, Sudzhansky and Khomutovsky municipal districts, as well as the city of Lgov |
Why the ban was introduced: energy deficit as the main reason
The main reason for the ban is the risk of an energy capacity deficit due to the connection of energy‑intensive mining facilities to the power grid.
Sergey Voropanov, head of the Moscow Region Ministry of Energy, assessed the mining energy consumption in the Moscow power system at 1 GW at the “Energoprom-26” conference. At the same time, the capacity of data centres (DCs) in Moscow and the Moscow Region could reach 3.6 GW by 2032, or 17% of the power system’s maximum load.
Previously, the government had already considered the possibility of banning mining across the entire United Energy System of the Centre, which supplies electricity to Moscow, the Moscow Region and 17 other regions of central Russia.
Expert opinion: ‘Miners will have to move for cheap electricity’
Market participants note that the ban will hit miners for whom the Moscow region was convenient due to its proximity to business centres, although it was not known for cheap electricity.
BitOK founder Dmitry Makhikhin explained:
“The regions were relatively popular… because a large number of businesses are concentrated around Moscow and the Moscow Region, so locating mining facilities there was simply convenient. As for the economics, it wasn’t that attractive… And if you look at these regions from the point of view of energy efficiency, according to my data, there was no particular surplus here, which means that sooner or later it would have led to a deficit anyway.”
Stanislav Chernukhin, founder of the fintech company “Poligant,” estimated the cost of relocating large farms at tens of millions of roubles:
“For existing miners, this means additional expenses, and not small ones. Equipment will either have to be shut down or moved. And the problem is not so much loading up the ASICs and transporting them, but where to take them at all. That is, you need free megawatts, a good price and, most importantly, infrastructure.”
Among the possible regions for relocation, experts mention the Murmansk Region with its cheap electricity.
Mining already banned in 13 regions
The ban in the Moscow region is a continuation of the policy of restricting mining in energy‑deficient regions of the Russian Federation. Since 1 January 2025, a full ban has been in effect in:
- The republics of the North Caucasus (Dagestan, North Ossetia, Ingushetia, Chechnya, Kabardino‑Balkaria, Karachay‑Cherkessia);
- the new regions of the Russian Federation (DPR, LPR, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions);
- certain areas of Irkutsk Region, Zabaykalsky Krai and Buryatia.
From the perspective of energy security, the ban appears justified: mining consumes significant amounts of electricity, placing additional strain on the grid in regions where there is no capacity surplus.
For Moscow and the region, where the load is already high, the restriction could prevent power outages.
However, for market participants, this is a serious blow. Shutting down or relocating equipment is a costly process, especially given that there are fewer and fewer available sites with cheap electricity and ready‑made infrastructure in Russia.
The question is how effectively the authorities will be able to monitor compliance with the ban – and whether mining will simply shift into the “grey” zone in the same regions.
