Russia plans to prosecute illegal cryptocurrency mining, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

CoinFeed reported on April 2nd that, according to Cryptopolitan, the Russian government has submitted a bill to the State Duma proposing criminal prosecution for illegal cryptocurrency mining, with a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a fine of up to 2.5 million rubles (approximately $25,000). Currently, about 50,000 individuals and legal entities in Russia are engaged in mining activities, but fewer than 1,500 have completed registration. Simultaneously, Russia has extended its mining ban to the Republic of Buryatia and the Transbaikal Territory for five years, until March 15, 2031. The current mining ban covers 13 regions, including Irkutsk, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and several republics in the North Caucasus. The Energy Minister of the Moscow Region has proposed banning mining in Moscow and the region to alleviate grid load. Russia is one of the world's top three Bitcoin mining destinations, but the government is prioritizing the use of computing power for artificial intelligence applications.