The Government of Russia will ban cryptocurrency mining in Moscow starting August 15, 2026. The block, formalized through Government Decree No. 936, will remain in force without interruption until December 31, 2032, with the aim of protecting the state electrical infrastructure from a critical energy deficit.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a strict amendment expanding territorial restrictions on digital mining activity. The measure not only bans large-scale block processing, but also participation in mining pools within the affected areas:
📍Moscow City (Capital)
📍Moscow Oblast
📍Kursk Oblast (9 Municipal Districts and the City of Lgov)
The technical justification behind this veto was the region’s high electricity consumption, where demand for cryptocurrency mining exceeded one gigawatt (1 GW) of power. The Ministry of Energy warned that keeping the 65 data centers in the area (which add up to a combined capacity of 734 MW) created an imminent risk of widespread blackouts and shortages of supply for the population and traditional industry.
In short, this move exposes a contradiction in Russia's economic strategy. Since the country aggressively promoted the use of cryptoassets to evade Western financial sanctions and to implement cross-border payments in international trade.
