Russian lawmakers propose harsh sanctions for mining: individuals could face fines of $1,500 and companies over $100,000

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Russian legislative proposal against illegal mining

Russian lawmakers introduced a bill on January 19 that establishes administrative fines for illegal cryptocurrency mining, with sanctions reaching up to $130,000 for repeat corporate offenders.

The proposal targets mining operations in regions where the government has imposed bans, as well as unregistered miners who exceed energy consumption limits.

Deputies Anatoly Aksakov, Nikolai Shulginov, Vasily Piskarev, and Sergey Pakhomov presented the legislation to the State Duma of Russia, the lower house of parliament.

Details of the sanctions

The bill proposes fines for individuals operating illegal mining facilities ranging from 100,000 to 150,000 rubles (1,000‑1,500 dollars) for first offenses, increasing to 1‑1.5 million rubles (10,000‑15,000 dollars) for repeat violations.

Corporate entities would face significantly higher sanctions: initially between 1 and 2 million rubles, increasing to 5‑10 million rubles for subsequent violations.

Mining infrastructure operators providing access to unregistered miners could face fines of up to 500,000 rubles, with repeat sanctions reaching 5 million rubles.

The legislation includes separate sanctions for miners who exceed government-set energy consumption thresholds or operate without being registered in the official miners registry.

Justification for the measure

Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the State Duma Financial Market Committee, states that illegal mining costs the Russian economy more than 10 billion rubles (100 million dollars) annually, in addition to 9 billion rubles in uncollected taxes.

Nikolai Shulginov, head of the State Duma Energy Committee, warned that current laws allow Russians to disguise large-scale commercial mining operations as domestic electricity consumption.

Low electricity rates enable profitable mining while threatening the security of the energy system, creating energy deficits and accelerating infrastructure deterioration, according to Shulginov.

Regulatory context

The bill follows the legalization of cryptocurrency mining in Russia in November 2024, which established a registration system requiring miners to report their activities monthly to tax authorities.

Previously, Russia’s Ministry of Justice proposed criminal sanctions including fines of up to 1.5 million rubles or two years of forced labor, with prison sentences of up to five years for organized groups generating large profits.

The legislation aims to formalize the division between legal and illegal mining markets, and Aksakov predicts that illegal operations will be categorized as “gray” and “black.”

Market context

Russia ranked as the second-largest cryptocurrency mining nation in 2025, accounting for approximately 15‑18% of the global Bitcoin hashrate, behind the United States.

The country has imposed seasonal and year-round mining bans in various regions, including parts of the Siberian Irkutsk oblast, due to concerns over the energy grid.

Mining operations contributed approximately 10 billion rubles in tax revenue during 2023, according to government data.