Government Resolution No. 936, published on July 31, 2026, adds Moscow, the entire Moscow Region, and nine territories in the Kursk Region to the list of areas where cryptocurrency mining is prohibited in Russia. The restriction takes effect on August 15, 2026, and remains in force through December 31, 2032.

In the Kursk Region, the ban applies to the following districts and cities:

• Belovsky District
• Bolshesoldatsky District
• Glushkovsky District
• Korenevsky District
• Lgovsky District
• Rylsky District
• Sudzhansky District
• Khomutovsky District
• The city of Lgov

These Kursk districts lie in western Russia along the border with Ukraine, a region where infrastructure and energy systems have faced unusual strain since the escalation of the Russia–Ukraine conflict in 2022. The measure expands Russia's existing system of regional mining restrictions rather than introducing a nationwide ban on cryptocurrency activity.

Grid Protection as the Primary Rationale

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 capacity.

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 indicate 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. This makes the measure appear more like a preventative grid policy and regulatory formality than the elimination of a thriving mining hub.

Mining Pools Covered by the Restriction

The wording of the resolution 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 physically 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 a foreign jurisdiction.

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

Extension of 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, 2026, 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.

These measures operate within the legal framework established by Russia's federal cryptocurrency mining law, which took effect in November 2024. That legislation legalized mining at the national level while authorizing the government to impose regional restrictions where electricity infrastructure could not support additional industrial-scale consumption. The regional ban mechanism is therefore a built-in feature of the regulatory system rather than an ad hoc response.

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 indicate that Russian miners are facing tighter controls over where and how they operate.

Russia became one of the world's largest Bitcoin mining hubs after China's 2021 mining crackdown displaced operators who relocated to jurisdictions with abundant energy and colder climates. Siberian regions such as Irkutsk, with access to low-cost hydropower, became particular centers of activity. The new restrictions do not directly target those regions, but they signal that the government is willing to limit mining's geographic footprint when grid conditions require it.

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

Limited Global Hash-Rate Impact Expected

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 down the industry across the country, and the resolution provides no evidence that Moscow or the affected Kursk districts are major global hash-rate centers.

The immediate consequences will fall on any operators still active in those locations. They will need to close their facilities, sell their equipment, or relocate 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 economics and grid conditions remain more favorable. 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.

Methodology: This article references Russian Government Resolution No. 936, officially published on July 31, 2026; Government Resolution No. 280, published on March 20, 2026; Russia's federal cryptocurrency mining law of August 2024; and official Russian Energy Ministry information concerning electricity-system development and the impact of previous regional mining restrictions.