Russia’s Illegal Digital Currency Mining Criminal Liability Bill

The bill would add Article 171.6 to Russia’s Criminal Code. Its basic offense would apply when a person conducts digital currency mining without inclusion in the official mining register where registration is legally mandatory, or supplies mining-infrastructure operator services without inclusion in the corresponding operator register. Unregistered status alone would not complete the proposed criminal offense. The conduct would also need to cause “large” harm to citizens, organizations, or the state, or be connected with income in a “large” amount.

This qualification matters because the draft does not state that every unregistered individual miner would automatically face criminal prosecution. Its language expressly preserves the condition that inclusion in the mining register must be mandatory for the person concerned. The proposal therefore operates alongside Russia’s existing digital-currency framework under Federal Law No. 259-FZ rather than replacing that framework.

For the basic offense, the first-reading text provides a fine of up to RUB 1.5 million, a fine tied to up to two years of the convicted person’s earnings, compulsory work for up to 480 hours, or forced labor for up to two years.

An aggravated offense would apply when the same conduct is committed by an organized group or causes especially large harm or income. The proposed sanctions are:

• a fine ranging from RUB 500,000 to RUB 2.5 million, or a fine based on one to three years of earnings;
• forced labor for up to five years; or
• imprisonment for up to five years, with an optional additional fine of up to RUB 400,000 or up to six months of earnings.

The draft relies on the general monetary thresholds in the note to Criminal Code Article 170.2 rather than placing figures in new Article 171.6. The current statutory text defines “large” as exceeding RUB 3.5 million and “especially large” as RUB 13.5 million. The bill’s explanatory note appears to state RUB 13 million for the second threshold, creating a textual inconsistency that should be checked against the committee’s second-reading materials.

The bill would add the proposed offense to the Criminal Code’s property-confiscation provisions. That change would make confiscation available under the code’s existing rules; it should not be described as automatic confiscation of every mining device. It would also add the basic offense to Article 76.1’s economic-offense discharge mechanism. Any release from criminal liability would remain subject to that article’s statutory conditions, rather than following merely from a general promise to repay losses.

Corresponding Criminal Procedure Code amendments would allocate preliminary investigation of the basic offense to inquiry officers and the aggravated offense to investigators of Russia’s internal affairs bodies. The government’s explanatory note characterized the proposal as part of an effort to move mining activity into the registered sector and cited a substantial gap between estimated market participation and registrations at the time of introduction.

The Russian government introduced Bill No. 1193493-8 on March 31, 2026. The State Duma adopted it at first reading on May 27 and set June 10 as the amendment deadline. On June 18, the Committee on State Building and Legislation recorded a decision to submit the bill to the State Duma Council, recommend adoption at second reading, and approve a table of recommended amendments.

The next confirmed procedural milestone is second-reading consideration by the State Duma, but no date was verified as of June 23, 2026. Because the committee has considered amendments, the operative proposal may differ from the introduced and first-reading text summarized here. The profile should be reviewed promptly after publication of the second-reading text or a plenary vote.