Russia’s ‘Grey’ Miners Cause Annual Losses of 10 Billion Rubles

Billions in Losses

The total damage from electricity theft for cryptocurrency mining in Russia amounts to about 10 billion rubles annually. This was reported to Izvestia by Sergey Sasim, Director of the Center for Research in Electric Power at the Institute for Economics and Regulation of Infrastructure Industries at HSE University. Industry sources confirmed this estimate.

In addition to material damage, ‘grey’ miners increase the load on regional power systems, leading to wear and tear on power grids, fires, and property damage.

According to Rosseti, in 2023–2024, 72 illegal mining farms were identified in the regions of the NCFD. The damage for the past year amounted to 424.82 million rubles, of which 2.26 million were recovered.

In Khakassia, losses due to 12 instances of unaccounted electricity consumption for 2023-2024 reached 29.77 million rubles (9.71 million were recovered).

Detecting Miners

Last week, MTS received a patent for the EnergyTool energy consumption analysis system, writes Kommersant. It allows for real-time detection of anomalies in electricity consumption, among which mining farms are automatically identified.

Characteristic signs of theft include meters with understated readings. The addresses of violators are displayed on a map, allowing special teams to be dispatched promptly.

The solution has passed state examination. Since the beginning of 2024, it has helped identify over a hundred illegal mining farms in MTS’s service area.

In addition to the North Caucasus, the Irkutsk region is a leader in ‘grey’ cryptocurrency mining. Over five years, Irkutskenergosbyt won 1,348 court cases against miners who illegally used electricity, totaling nearly 650 million rubles.

The decisions came into force, and the defendants were obliged to compensate for the damage. 104 claims were paid before the court decision was issued.

A Chance to Lift the Ban

The Ministry of Energy told Izvestia that mining is an important sector of the economy in the long term, but it is not yet considered a ‘key consumer’.

“Such enterprises can quickly start and stop their activities depending on unfavorable market conditions,” the ministry stated.

Officials support local bans on cryptocurrency mining, citing the risk of energy shortages. However, they consider lifting them possible if additional generating capacities are created in the regions to avoid potential negative consequences for the population.

As of September 1, a law regulating cryptocurrency mining came into force in Russia. The country also established a limit on energy consumption for individual miners.

In certain regions, authorities introduced a ban on cryptocurrency mining and participation in mining pools from January 1, 2025, to March 15, 2031.

Experts pointed out problems with such restrictions.