Russia Bans Crypto Mining in Moscow and Parts of Kursk

Regulations

Russia has formally expanded its regional cryptocurrency mining restrictions to Moscow, the Moscow Region and selected parts of Kursk, with the ban taking effect on August 15, 2026.

Key Takeaways

Government Resolution No. 936, published on July 31, adds Moscow, the entire Moscow Region and nine Kursk territories to the areas where cryptocurrency mining will be prohibited.

The restriction takes effect on August 15, 2026 and remains in place through December 31, 2032.

In the Kursk Region, the ban covers:

The measure expands Russia’s existing system of regional mining restrictions rather than introducing a nationwide ban on cryptocurrency activity.

The Ban Is Primarily a Grid-Protection Measure

The decision is more relevant to electricity allocation in the affected regions than to Bitcoin’s global network.

Moscow and the surrounding region have a dense concentration of residential, commercial, transport and data infrastructure competing for power. Russia’s official electricity-development plan previously identified the Moscow energy system as requiring at least 950 megawatts of additional generation.

The Energy Ministry’s development plan therefore provides important context for the mining restriction: adding large, continuous computing loads would place further pressure on a system where new generation capacity is already considered necessary.

Industrial mining is also less naturally suited to a major metropolitan power market than to regions where operators can access cheaper electricity, surplus generation and large industrial sites.

The resolution does not show that Moscow currently hosts a major share of Russian or global cryptocurrency mining. It provides no figures for active facilities, electricity consumption or hash rate in the newly restricted areas.

That makes the measure look more like a preventative grid policy and regulatory formality than the destruction of a thriving global mining hub.

Mining Pools Are Covered by the Restriction

The wording covers both direct cryptocurrency mining and participation in mining pools from the affected territories.

A mining pool combines computing power from multiple operators and distributes rewards according to the work contributed by each participant.

Including pool participation prevents miners from keeping equipment active in Moscow while arguing that the cryptocurrency is technically produced through an organization registered elsewhere.

The relevant factor is where the computing equipment operates, not where the pool coordinating the work is based.

An operator therefore cannot legally avoid the restriction by connecting machines in Moscow to infrastructure located in another Russian region or foreign jurisdiction.

Enforcement will still require authorities and electricity-network companies to identify the facilities and consumption patterns behind unauthorized activity.

Russia Is Extending an Existing Regional Policy

The Moscow and Kursk decision follows earlier restrictions introduced in regions where mining was viewed as a risk to electricity reliability.

Government Resolution No. 280, published on March 20, converted seasonal restrictions in designated parts of Buryatia and Zabaykalsky Krai into year-round bans.

Those restrictions run from April 1, 2026 through March 15, 2031. Moscow and the listed Kursk territories face a different timeline, extending through the end of 2032.

The Energy Ministry has presented these regional measures as a way to preserve electricity supplies for other consumers. It previously reported that restrictions introduced in Siberia reduced power consumption by more than 300 megawatts and helped the system pass winter demand peaks without limiting other users.

The policy expansion also comes as Russia’s mining industry faces separate legal scrutiny, including a fraud case involving the country’s largest cryptocurrency miner.

That case is unrelated to the Moscow electricity restrictions, but both developments show that Russian miners are facing tighter controls over where and how they operate.

The government is not applying one uniform rule across the country. Mining remains possible in regions that are not covered by the restricted list, subject to Russia’s registration, taxation and electricity requirements.

A Global Hash-Rate Shock Is Unlikely

Comparing the measure directly with China’s nationwide 2021 mining crackdown would overstate its likely impact.

Russia is restricting mining in selected territories rather than shutting the industry across the country, and the resolution provides no evidence that Moscow or the affected Kursk districts are major global hash-rate centres.

The immediate consequences will fall on any operators still active in those locations. They will need to close their facilities, sell their equipment or move it to regions where mining remains legal and electricity capacity is available.

Relocation is not automatic. Mining sites require suitable power connections, cooling, physical security and agreements allowing equipment to operate continuously. Moving machines also interrupts revenue and creates transport and installation costs.

Some equipment may shift toward other Russian industrial regions where the economics and grid conditions remain more favourable. Other operators could leave the country entirely if domestic capacity becomes harder to secure.

The restriction may therefore change the internal geography of Russian mining without producing a material disruption to Bitcoin’s global computing power.

Its most immediate effect is local: Moscow, the Moscow Region and the listed Kursk territories will reserve limited electricity capacity for other consumers rather than new or existing cryptocurrency mining operations.

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Author

Alex is Editor-in-Chief of Coindoo and co-founder of Millennial Media Group, with nearly a decade of experience covering financial markets – crypto first, then everything else.

It started in 2016 with Bitcoin. Like most people at the time, he didn’t fully understand it – so he kept digging. Blockchain, tokenomics, the projects, the cycles. That curiosity never stopped, and eventually pulled him into traditional markets too: equities, commodities, macro. Not because he left crypto behind, but because you can’t properly understand one without the other.

What drives him is straightforward: he wants to know why something is happening, not just that it’s happening. Most market coverage stops at the headline – price up, price down, here’s a chart. Alex finds that kind of reporting actively unhelpful. If you walk away from an article without understanding the mechanism behind the move, what did you actually learn?

He holds a degree in Tourism from New Bulgarian University – not the most obvious path into financial markets, but markets have a way of pulling in people who are simply too curious to stay out. He has authored over 200 in-depth analyses and more than 10,000 articles across crypto and traditional finance. He still thinks every day in markets teaches him something new. That’s probably why he hasn’t stopped.

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