Russia Puts Crypto Miners on Lowest-Priority Power Under New Grid Rules

Published October 11, 2026, 17:45 PKT. Based on October 10-11 reporting by crypto.news on the October 6 decree, citing the Russian Ministry of Energy via 1prime.ru and the resolution text on consultant.ru.

Russia has put cryptocurrency miners on the lowest rung of the country's electricity grid. Under Government Resolution No. 1300, adopted on October 6 and confirmed by the Ministry of Energy on October 9, mining farms, mining pools and companies that provide mining infrastructure may now connect to the national power grid only under Category 4 power supply reliability, the tier that lets grid operators disconnect them first when electricity runs short. The ministry said the change would help prevent additional mining demand from reducing the power available to other customers, while protecting reliable electricity supplies for residents.

The Category 4 rule: miners get cut first

Category 4 is the fourth and lowest tier of Russia's electricity supply reliability framework. It was introduced in February 2026 through Government Resolution No. 103 as a separate connection arrangement for consumers willing to accept a less reliable supply, and it let facilities connect in power-scarce regions while bearing the risk of outages at any time. The October decree now makes it mandatory for qualifying mining connections.

What Category 4 means in practice is priority curtailment. When authorities prepare emergency power reduction schedules, Category 4 consumers are placed ahead of most other electricity users, so their power is cut first and generally restored after supplies return to higher-priority customers, crypto.news reported, citing the government rules. The Energy Ministry said mining facilities could be disconnected without the advance coordination normally associated with higher-priority electricity users. Operators remain responsible for managing their operations when electricity becomes unavailable, and the regulations do not promise uninterrupted service or require authorities to maintain power for mining equipment during shortages.

What Resolution 1300 covers, and what it does not

The decree's scope is broad. It covers companies operating mining equipment, businesses participating in mining pools and infrastructure providers supporting cryptocurrency mining activities. The requirements apply across Russia, including regions where mining is still permitted. They affect new grid connection applications and certain previously submitted requests that have not been completed, with grid operators able to reject applications if the system operator determines the requested connection cannot meet the technical conditions.

But the October rules are not an immediate nationwide shutdown. Crypto.news reported that the text does not establish that every facility already operating under a completed higher-priority connection must immediately move to Category 4. Instead, the decree changes the conditions for obtaining grid connections and sets the rules for handling shortages, plus technical requirements for grid connection procedures and the equipment needed for emergency electricity restrictions.

The decree also interacts with Russia's regional mining bans. Where the government has imposed a complete mining prohibition in a territory, electricity providers cannot accept new Category 4 connection applications for the covered mining equipment, and the processing of affected pending applications and work under certain existing connection agreements must be suspended until the prohibition is lifted. The rules separately provide for certain regions where mining may operate under Category 4 connections despite restrictions that would otherwise apply, though a Category 4 connection alone does not exempt an operator from every regional ban.

Moscow's one-gigawatt problem

The new connection rules land on top of a string of escalating restrictions. Regional energy officials had estimated that cryptocurrency mining consumed approximately one gigawatt of electricity within Moscow's power system, a figure cited during discussions about preventing capacity shortages. In August 2026, the government expanded its mining restrictions to Moscow, the surrounding Moscow Region and designated areas of Kursk through Government Resolution No. 936, with restrictions running from August 15, 2026 to December 31, 2032 unless amended.

Separate regional controls began earlier. Seasonal restrictions affecting parts of Buryatia, Zabaykalsky Krai and Irkutsk were introduced in January 2025, and Russia has expanded its regional mining restrictions several times since legalizing regulated cryptocurrency mining in 2024. Earlier measures covered parts of the North Caucasus and Siberia, where electricity shortages and growing demand had raised concerns among local authorities. The October electricity connection decree operates alongside those existing restrictions governing where mining activity is permitted.

The antimonopoly proposal the decree left out

One thing the decree does not do is adopt a separate proposal from Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service. Bits.media reported on October 10 that the service had proposed restrictions preventing electricity companies from conducting cryptocurrency mining themselves or supplying certain facilities and capacity to mining businesses, as part of regulatory discussions about power providers' involvement in the industry. The October 6 decree does not establish that the antimonopoly proposal has been adopted.

Open questions remain about the scale of the change. The Ministry of Energy has not announced how many mining farms will require new connections under Category 4 or how much electricity capacity the changes are expected to release for other consumers.

This article is news reporting and is not investment advice.

Sources

• Russian Government Resolution No. 1300 (adopted October 6, 2026), primary official source for the Category 4 requirement and the decree's scope, cited via consultant.ru through crypto.news
• Russian Ministry of Energy (October 9 statement), primary official source for the confirmation and rationale, cited via 1prime.ru through crypto.news
• crypto.news, "Russia's new mining rules: Can Bitcoin miners lose power?" (October 2026), secondary source for the decree's contents, dates, scope and context, citing the resolution text and Ministry statements
• Bits.media (October 10, 2026), secondary source for the Federal Antimonopoly Service proposal and the note that the decree did not adopt it, via crypto.news