A Chinese man mining Bitcoin received his enlistment notice in Russia.

Author: Heart of Computing Power

On February 23, 2025, the Chinese Consulate in Russia once again reminded Chinese citizens in Russia that

Note Presidential Decree No. 821 issued by Putin.

This decree presents Chinese miners in Russia with a very real "either/or" choice:

You either have to give up your residency status or join the military first.

If you want to stay and earn rubles legally, you might have to go to the crossfire zone first.

The law is very clear:

Foreign men aged 18 to 65 who wish to apply for a long-term residence permit in Russia must agree to serve in a Russian military unit or similar organization for at least one year.

Miners used to go to Siberia for cheap electricity, but now, before they can even recoup the cost of their mining equipment, they may be treated as "consumables."

Today, those who go to pan for gold, and those with computing power worth millions, are they really able to escape unscathed?

I. The vicious cycle of compliance: to be legal, first join the army.

Many miners who went to Russia felt that they were just passing through, making money across borders, and that the fighting on the front lines had nothing to do with them.

But since last year, a complex web specifically targeting foreign miners has been quietly laid.

The first step is to "lure the snake out of its hole".

Russia officially legalized cryptocurrency mining in 2024, which at one point became a paradise in the eyes of miners.

But the premise is that,

Individuals or businesses with high electricity consumption must join the official "Miner Registry" and fully disclose their wallet addresses and income.

Failure to report will result in hefty fines and equipment confiscation.

This move forced all miners who wanted to earn a stable income legally to voluntarily hand over their names and details.

Once the details are revealed, the next step is a natural progression.

The second step is "identity locking".

As a foreigner, if you want to legally register for large-scale cryptocurrency mining...

You must have a Russian long-term residence permit or a registered address in Russia.

And this is precisely the most dangerous killing move in the entire scheme.

The third step is to "strike the snake at its seven-inch mark".

In 2025, Russian Presidential Decree No. 821 came into effect, completely changing the rules for applying for long-term residence permits.

You can either submit your Russian military service contract or a certificate proving you are unfit for service.

This blow directly targeted a large number of foreign male miners working in Russia.

They had originally hoped to obtain long-term residency by registering as sole proprietors or companies, but now that path is blocked.

The loop is closed, and thus locked.

If you want to mine cryptocurrency legally, you need to register with your real name;

To register, you need to obtain a residence permit;

If you want a residence permit, you have to be ready to go to the front lines at any time.

First, they lure you in with the bait of legality, then they force you to comply with the law with severe penalties, and finally, they use a residence permit to precisely turn you into a potential source of soldiers.

You might think you're bringing machines to mine Bitcoin, but in the eyes of wartime machines, you are the "mine."

II. The Countdown to Nominee Shareholding and "Runaway"

Since obtaining long-term residency is risky, is it feasible to "play guerrilla warfare" in the gray area by relying on business visas?

The answer is no, this path is being completely blocked.

In the past, many miners took advantage of the loophole of "leaving the country once every 90 days" and even found locals to hold the mines on their behalf.

But starting in 2025, Russia took a series of drastic measures, targeting individuals, behaviors, and assets one by one.

First, immigration controls were tightened.

The "Registry of Controlled Personnel," which came into effect in Russia in February 2025, is highly accurate.

If there's a problem with your visa, your bank account will be immediately put under control, and even your daily spending will be subject to extremely low limits.

More importantly, police can detain and initiate deportation proceedings within 48 hours without court approval.

Using a business visa to mine cryptocurrency is essentially illegal work, and one could easily become the next person to be laid off.

Furthermore, the legal characterization of the act has changed.

According to the draft amendment to the Criminal Law in December 2025, illegal mining could face up to five years in prison and hefty fines.

Previously, it was at most a violation of regulations; from now on, it will be a criminal offense.

The space for survival in the gray areas is being eroded inch by inch by legal provisions.

Immediately afterwards, their assets were targeted.

In February 2026, Putin further signed a new law that gives courts the power to directly confiscate mining equipment and Bitcoin involved in cases.

The9, a Nasdaq-listed company, once said that Russia might "nationalize and confiscate the assets of foreign companies under certain circumstances."

In Russia, it doesn't matter whose name a machine is registered under; if it's suspected of being illegal, it will be confiscated.

Besides, you can't hide it at all.

Since the end of 2024, the Russian power grid has built an integrated air and ground inspection network.

In the air, thermal imaging drones precisely lock onto targets; on the ground, AI-powered electricity meters monitor in real time; and on the terminal, intelligent algorithms proactively identify targets.

In Dagestan alone, 73 cases of illegal electricity mining were uncovered between January and November 2025, resulting in losses of 85.7 million rubles.

People, actions, assets, and hiding places—all four paths are blocked.

The window for quietly mining by exploiting visa loopholes is closing.

Third, the state apparatus only needs energy, not computing power.

Even if you manage to secure your identity and weather the risks of nominee shareholding, there won't be enough electricity to mine in Russia.

After China shut down mining in 2021, Siberia in Russia became a refuge for miners worldwide due to its naturally low temperatures and cheap electricity.

BitRiver, Russia's largest mining company, started here and at its peak managed 175,000 mining machines.

In those years, as long as you had electricity and the guts, money would follow.

But the power grid couldn't hold up.

By the end of 2024, the mining industry had consumed 1.5% of Russia's total electricity, and power grids in many areas were on the verge of overload.

Aging infrastructure needs maintenance, and people's heating cannot be interrupted. In non-natural gas-powered regions of Russia, electric heating is the most affordable way to keep warm in winter. Therefore, these "electricity-consuming giants" naturally became the first targets to be cut.

Starting in 2025, a series of bans will be implemented.

Several regions in the North Caucasus and Siberia experienced complete power outages or seasonal power rationing, and even BitRiver couldn't withstand it.

However, what crushed it was not the price of Bitcoin, but a combination of legal debt collection, account freezing, and regional power rationing.

As for foreign miners without local background

Under the triple strangulation of "identity threshold (military service contract + controlled personnel registration) + energy control + asset confiscation",

They will be the first to be sacrificed.

The window of opportunity for rampant growth based on cheap electricity and audacity has closed.

Faced with rigid policies, computing power is nothing more than code that can be unplugged at any time.

When they withdrew from China in 2021, everyone was betting on the same thing:

"The emperor is far away, and as long as there is electricity, we can live."

Four years later, the facts have given a different answer.

You can outrun the regulations of one country, but you can't outrun the conscription order of another.

In the story of global miner migration, Russia's chapter is coming to an end.

The window of opportunity for those people and machines that haven't yet evacuated is dwindling.