Russia Cracks Down on Rogue Crypto Miners with Bold New Surveillance System

Moscow tightens the noose on underground mining operations—just as Bitcoin flirts with $100K again.

Subheader: The Kremlin's Hashrate Hijack

Russia's energy watchdog rolls out a nationwide monitoring platform to sniff out unregistered mining farms siphoning subsidized power. No more free lunches for GPU cowboys.

Subheader: Wattage Warfare

The system cross-references electricity spikes with blockchain activity—because nothing says 'planned economy' like AI hunting down crypto anarchists. Miners now face fines that'd make even Wall Street compliance officers blush.

Subheader: The Great Mining Exodus?

With Kazakhstan 2.0 looming, underground ops scramble for VPNs and Faraday cages. Meanwhile, state-approved mining pools get VIP treatment—because in Russia, decentralization is just another word for 'taxable event.'

Closer: Another win for blockchain transparency—just not the kind Satoshi envisioned. Maybe next they'll audit those $2B 'energy subsidies' flowing to oligarch-run farms?

Energizing Precision with Equipment Registry System

Introduced as a proposal by the Ministry of Energy in February, this registry system seeks to eradicate illegal mining facilities straining the electricity grid. The database compiles all details, from model numbers to nominal watt values of each device, allowing distribution companies to monitor energy consumption in real time. The tax authority uses these data to match against miners’ online income declarations, preventing the misuse of lower tariffs.

Rusya Kripto Para Madenciliği

Initially, the system was deployed in high hash rate regions like Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, and Yakutia. Officials indicate that the system will expand nationwide within the year, rendering unregistered cryptocurrency mining technically impossible.

Energy planners view the registry system as strategic. With the total hash power of PoW-based crypto networks like Bitcoin$108,860, states can now manage their grid balancing objectives more effectively.

Intensified Regional Bans and Penalties

Just before the registry system’s implementation, the government suspended crypto mining in power-constrained regions for six years. This ban, effective in six regions until March 15, 2031, was introduced to prevent mining-induced power outages. Concurrently, the Federal Tax Service launched a portal for miners to declare earnings online, as part of President Vladimir Putin’s tax framework starting in 2025.

The Ministry of Digital Development has also drafted legislation that grants courts the authority to confiscate mining devices and unregistered cryptocurrencies. For repeated offenses, companies face fines up to 2 million rubles (approximately $22,000). Thus, Russia aims to exercise tighter state control over substantial hash power in networks like Bitcoin’s PoW.