Russia plans to hold illegal cryptocurrency mining criminally responsible, with a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

According to Mars Finance, Cryptopolitan reports that the Russian government has submitted a bill to the State Duma, proposing to hold criminally liable for illegal cryptocurrency mining activities, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison 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. Meanwhile, the Russian government has extended the mining ban to the Republic of Buryatia and the Trans-Baikal Krai for a period of five years, until March 15, 2031. The mining ban now covers 13 regions, including several republics such as Irkutsk, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and the North Caucasus. The energy minister of the Moscow Oblast has proposed banning mining in Moscow and the Moscow Oblast to reduce the load on the power grid. Russia is one of the top three global destinations for Bitcoin mining, but the government is prioritizing the use of computing power for artificial intelligence applications.