Moscow joins Russia’s crypto mining ban as Kremlin cites power grid strain to 2032
Russia extends its crypto mining prohibition to Moscow and Kursk region through 2032, citing electricity capacity fears amid a growing data-centre footprint.
Russia has widened its cryptocurrency mining ban to cover Moscow, the Moscow Region and parts of the Kursk Region, extending Kremlin-led restrictions that now run through the end of 2032 on grounds of electricity supply constraints.
The measure, Resolution No. 936, was signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on 25 July 2026 and published on the legal records portal Pravo.ru, according to Cointelegraph. It amends an earlier mining restriction order dating from December 2024 and takes effect from 15 August 2026, with the prohibition set to remain in force until 31 December 2032.
Grid capacity cited as the trigger
Regional energy officials had flagged mining as a material draw on the power network. The Block reported that Moscow-area energy officials estimated mining operations consume around 1 gigawatt of power, warning this could contribute to future electricity shortages in the capital region.
Separately, the Moscow Region’s Energy Ministry, cited by Cointelegraph via Russian state agency TASS, put the figure differently, estimating that Moscow and the Moscow Region together host 65 data centres connected to the grid with a combined capacity of 734 megawatts, including 19 data centres in the Moscow Region alone accounting for 233 megawatts. The discrepancy between the gigawatt-scale estimate and the sub-gigawatt data-centre tally underlines how imprecise official measurement of mining’s grid footprint remains, even as it is used to justify sweeping bans.
A widening patchwork of restricted zones
The new order also brings eight municipal districts and the city of Lgov in the Kursk Region under the ban. It builds on a pattern of regional restrictions Moscow has imposed piecemeal rather than through a single nationwide law: earlier bans already cover parts of Buryatia and the Zabaykalsky Krai, where mining is prohibited from 1 April 2026 through 15 March 2031.
That staggered approach — rolling out restrictions region by region, each with its own start and end dates, rather than a blanket federal prohibition — reflects the tension in Russian policy between wanting to tax and licence a mining industry that has migrated there partly to exploit cheap energy, and needing to protect grid stability in areas where demand from both households and data centres is already stretched.
Enforcement backdrop
The expansion comes as Russian authorities continue to scrutinise the domestic mining sector on other fronts. Cointelegraph noted that the founder of BitRiver, one of Russia’s largest mining infrastructure providers, has separately been charged in Russia over alleged fraud worth around $8 million.
For miners operating in or near the capital, the Moscow-area ban forces a further shift toward regions with looser restrictions and spare generating capacity, reinforcing a broader trend of large-scale mining migrating to Russia’s less populated, energy-abundant territories in Siberia and the Far East. It also signals to investors that Russia’s regulatory stance on mining remains driven primarily by domestic energy security concerns rather than a settled national framework for the industry.
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