Russia has already banned crypto mining in many regions and has no plans to expand the range of measures aimed at curbing crypto mining in the new year, industry watchers say.
New regulations could only be imposed if there is a power shortage in certain regions, but analysts don’t expect this to happen.
Russian crypto miners left alone this year
Experts in the field interviewed by the state-run TASS news agency say it is unlikely that crypto mining will be further banned in Russia in the coming months.
Experts acknowledged that crypto-related activities could still be blocked in some parts of the country where energy shortages could begin to worsen.
About 10 regions in Russia imposed complete mining bans last year, and another three temporarily or restricted the minting of digital coins in parts of their territory.
This action is typically taken when existing generation capacity cannot produce enough electricity to meet all consumer needs.
Ilya Dolmatov, director of the Institute for Economic and Infrastructure Industry Regulation at the Higher School of Economics (HSE), a state research university in Moscow, explained:
“Currently, we do not see any new areas where a ban will be imposed. However, if power shortages in certain areas become more severe, a ban may be imposed at some point.”
However, Dolmatov, who is also a member of the Public Council of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS), points out that electricity consumption throughout Russia did not increase in 2025 and does not foresee a “risk zone” in 2026.
Regions facing energy shortages typically have low electricity prices, making them unattractive to crypto miners anyway, said Sergei Sasim, director of the HSE Power Research Center. Restrictions are unlikely to be imposed in such areas, he added, elaborating:
“Mining is prohibited in energy-poor areas. Therefore, such a ban could be introduced if new electricity-poor areas arise. However, mining itself is mainly concentrated in areas with low electricity prices.”
“Energy-poor areas are generally not characterized by low tariffs, so such a ban is unlikely to be implemented there,” Sasim concluded.
At the same time, he believes there is a good chance that authorities in individual energy-poor regions will “extend their discrimination” if the lack of power generation capacity spreads to new regions. “This may be particularly relevant for the Irkutsk region,” he said.
Two regions ready for year-round mining ban in 2026
The Siberian region of Irkutsk, known as Russia’s mining capital, is one of more than a dozen regions from Russia’s far east to occupied eastern Ukraine that have been partially or completely banned from mining until 2031. For now, only the south is affected.
The two neighboring regions, with which Irkutsk shares a common electricity grid, will raise their current seasonal mining restrictions to a year-round ban in 2026, Cryptopolitan reported.
The federal government intends to approve the move, Russian media revealed in mid-December, with business newspaper Kommersant citing a draft protocol for an upcoming meeting of the government committee on the development of the power industry.
Already among those regions are a number of Russian republics in the North Caucasus, where local officials and electricity company employees have intercepted more than 100 illegal mines in 2025 alone.
Almost 80% of the underground facilities were discovered in Dagestan, with losses estimated at nearly 90 million rubles (more than $1.12 million) of the total economic damage to the region of 1 billion rubles ($13 million).
Russia legalized Bitcoin mining at the end of 2024, but more than two-thirds of participants in the growing industry have yet to register with the state or pay taxes, while many illegal miners continue to mint digital currency using stolen electricity.
The Russian government is considering amnesty for the former and is stepping up crackdowns on the latter. Late last year, Russia’s Ministry of Justice proposed amendments that would criminalize illegal mining activities, including high fines, prison terms, and even “forced labor.”