Russia Launches National Cryptocurrency Mining Registry to Combat Illegal Operations
Russia is stepping up its fight against illegal crypto miners by creating a national registry of mining equipment that will help identify unreported transactions.
According to local media, Russian authorities have already developed the register and distributed it to regions with high mining activity.
This initiative is a joint project of the Ministry of Energy, the Federal Tax Service and the Ministry of Digital Development as part of the national strategy to legalize the sector and reduce unauthorized consumption of electricity.
Deputy Energy Minister Petr Konyushenko noted that the national registry will allow the government to accurately identify consumers using electricity for mining. He stressed that this is essential to ensure proper control over crypto mining and taxation in accordance with actual energy consumption.
Konyushenko confirmed that the list had already been sent to regions with high mining activity, as plans to create such a register had existed since early 2025.
The Ministry of Energy initially proposed the concept of creating a national registry in February, which subsequently received official support from the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
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Authorities say the registry will also help enforce regulations in regions where mining is banned due to power supply restrictions. Since November, Russia has banned mining in ten regions until March 2031 to prevent power outages during peak periods.
The creation of the registry is related to Russia's broader legal framework for cryptocurrency mining, adopted in 2023. According to the law, cryptocurrency mining is permitted for Russian citizens, registered individual entrepreneurs and legal entities.
While individuals can mine without registration as long as they comply with government-imposed energy consumption limits, businesses and sole proprietors are required to register with the Federal Tax Service.
To increase transparency and promote cryptocurrency adoption, Russia abolished VAT on cryptocurrency purchases. Then, in an effort to formalize the sector, the government also introduced a 15% tax on profits from cryptocurrency mining, calculated based on the market value of the assets mined.
Despite the legal framework, many miners continue to operate outside official control, often connecting to residential power grids to avoid paying commercial rates. As of June 2025, only 30% of miners were registered with the Federal Tax Service, Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov said in a ministry report published last month.
He then noted that the government was working to bring the remaining 70% into compliance, although no further details were provided on enforcement measures or timelines.
Russia Fights Illegal Mining
Over the past year, Russia has tried to curb illegal activity through targeted inspections and court-ordered closures of illegal mining sites.
As crypto.news previously reported, in one of the largest cases to date, prosecutors closed an open-pit mining operation in Krasnoyarsk Krai that operated on state land with forged documents. The site covered 30,000 square meters and generated revenues of about 4.6 million rubles ($58,000) per month.
Officials have also reported cases of utility workers taking bribes to overlook illegal connections and hackers using smart home devices to create hidden mining networks.
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Source: cryptonews.net
