Moscow bans crypto mining until 2032, affects Bitcoin's second-largest mining power

Crypto mining is banned in Moscow, the Moscow Region, and parts of Kursk until December 31, 2032, under government decree No. 936 signed on July 25 and published on July 31. The decree also prohibits participation in crypto mining pools. In the first quarter, Russia accounted for an estimated 175 exahashes per second, or 16.4% of Bitcoin's global computing power, according to Luxor's Hashrate Index, making it the second-largest mining power after the U.S. The Energy Ministry stated that the year-round restriction is necessary to mitigate the risk of power-capacity shortages as energy-intensive mining facilities connect to regional grids. Currently, mining consumes about 1 gigawatt in the Moscow power system, while the region's data-center capacity could reach 3.6 GW, or 17% of peak demand, by 2032. The ban is also linked to Western sanctions, as Russian companies have been using domestically mined Bitcoin for international payments following legal changes aimed at countering these restrictions. Legislation passed in July maintained the ban on domestic crypto payments but allowed exceptions for foreign-trade settlements and transactions involving mined cryptocurrency. In 2022, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned BitRiver and its subsidiaries, citing that Russian mining companies helped monetize energy resources and could mitigate the impact of sanctions. Russia had previously legalized registered crypto mining in 2024 before imposing bans in 10 regions through March 2031 due to electricity demand.