The Russian government has launched a new mandatory registry for BTC block reward mining equipment in an effort to stamp out illegal mining operations.
Russia’s Energy Ministry announced the new registry this week. Deputy Minister Yevgeny Grabchak noted that mining without the government’s knowledge and approval will now become “impossible.”
Grabchak added that the new registry specifically targets curbing mining in the regions where the activity has been prohibited. In December, the government banned mining in 10 regions—including the occupied Ukrainian areas—for the next six years. It also revealed that it will enforce seasonal restrictions in other mining hotspots when energy demand surges.
“The fundamental task is to optimize the mechanisms for identifying mining activities and more strictly enforcing the bans on it in those regions where it is not permitted,” the Energy Ministry stated on February 3, as reported by state-owned news agency TASS.
It’s unclear whether the miners will be required to register their equipment at purchase or once they are up and running.
The registry is the government’s response to concerns raised by some lawmakers that the ban imposed last year will be impossible to enforce due to the high number of “grey” miners with underground operations. These mines are unlicensed, operate under the guise of other industrial operations, and have been blamed for causing blackouts in some regions. Nikolai Shulginov, who chairs the State Duma Committee on Energy, called on the government to address these grey miners or risk watering down the ban.
Separately, the Russian government announced that miners can now report their earnings on their online taxation accounts. The Federal Tax Service unveiled the new feature this week, which allows personal miners to “send information about mined digital currency to the tax authority,” reports TASS.
The new feature offers separate reporting forms for individuals and legal entities. Miners must report the mined digital currency to the taxman no later than the 20th day of the following month.
In 2023, Russian operators mined 54,000 BTC, worth $3 billion at the time, and contributed 10 billion rubles ($100 million) in taxes. The Russian Industrial Mining Association attributed the success to the formal registration and licensing framework, which it said had attracted institutional miners.
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