Russian lawmakers propose fines up to 10M rubles ($129,000) for illegal crypto mining amid claims of $100M annual tax losses.
Russian lawmakers introduced a bill on January 19 establishing administrative fines for illegal cryptocurrency mining, with penalties 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 exceeding energy consumption limits.
Deputies Anatoly Aksakov, Nikolai Shulginov, Vasily Piskarev, and Sergey Pakhomov submitted the legislation to Russia's State Duma, the lower house of parliament.
What Happened
The bill proposes fines for individuals operating illegal mining facilities ranging from 100,000 to 150,000 rubles ($1,000-$1,500) for first offenses, escalating to 1-1.5 million rubles ($10,000-$15,000) for repeat violations.
Corporate entities would face significantly steeper penalties: 1-2 million rubles initially, rising to 5-10 million rubles for subsequent infractions.
Mining infrastructure operators providing access to unregistered miners could face fines up to 500,000 rubles, with repeat penalties reaching 5 million rubles.
The legislation includes separate penalties for miners exceeding government-set energy consumption thresholds or operating without inclusion in the official mining registry.
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Why It Matters
Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the State Duma Financial Market Committee, claims illegal mining costs Russia's economy over 10 billion rubles ($100 million) annually, plus 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 household electricity consumption.
Low electricity tariffs enable profitable mining while threatening energy system security, creating power deficits and accelerating infrastructure deterioration, according to Shulginov.
The bill follows Russia's November 2024 legalization of cryptocurrency mining, which established a registry system requiring miners to report monthly activities to tax authorities.
Previously, Russia's Ministry of Justice proposed criminal penalties including fines up to 1.5 million rubles or two years forced labor, with prison sentences up to five years for organized groups generating large profits.
The legislation aims to formalize the division between legal and illegal mining markets, with Aksakov predicting illegal operations will split into "grey" and "black" categories.
Market Context
Russia ranked as the world's second-largest cryptocurrency mining nation in 2025, accounting for approximately 15-18% of global Bitcoin hashrate behind the United States.
The country has imposed seasonal and year-round mining bans in several regions including parts of Siberia's Irkutsk Oblast due to energy grid concerns.
Mining operations contributed approximately 10 billion rubles in tax revenue during 2023, according to government data.
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