Key Takeaways
- Russia will ban crypto mining in several regions starting January 1, 2025.
- The ban deals with electricity shortages and inter-sectoral cross-subsidy issues.
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Russia will ban crypto mining in several sectors starting January 1, 2025, extending until March 15, 2031, according to to TASS news agency.
The move aims to address energy issues by imposing seasonal restrictions in key mining sectors to avoid power shortages.
Areas affected include Dagestan, Ingushetia, Chechnya, and the Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, where mining activity is believed to be contributing to electricity shortages and imbalances.
Additional seasonal restrictions apply in Irkutsk, Buryatia, and the Trans-Baikal Territory.
Mining operations in these regions will be suspended during periods of peak energy consumption from January 1 to March 15 in 2025 and from November 15 to March 15 in subsequent years.
“The restrictions address both the shortage of electricity in some regions and the question of interregional cross-subsidy,” said Sergey Kolobanov, Deputy Director of the Center for the Economics of Fuel and Energy Industries.
Vladimir Klimanov, Director of the Regional Policy Center, said that residents and businesses in central Russia often bear subsidized electricity costs for regions such as the North Caucasus.
Crypto mining has been legal in Russia since August 2024, when President Vladimir Putin signed a law formally recognizing the activity.
The law took effect on November 1, 2024, along with additional regulations requiring miners to register with the Federal Tax Service.
Under this new mandate, miners must provide detailed information about their assets and wallet addresses, ensuring greater control over the industry.
Although legal entities must register, individual miners can operate within a monthly electricity usage limit of 6,000 kWh.
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