This is what governments do in controlling on-ramps and off-ramps along with mining production. The actual cryptocurrency payment protocol is distributed around the world and controlled by the software people choose to run, so no one government has control over the system. And it would seem today there is a lot of institutional demand for Bitcoin as the price is at $72.404 presently, which is up about $6k in just a couple days. And a side note, I’ve made a couple Bitcoin payments to my Mullvad VPN provider for fun, and fees are relatively low and the transactions completed quickly without issue, so I think that NFT nonsense on the Bitcoin blockchain must of slowed.
New law will let Russian regions force miners to temporarily shut down their rigs during power shortages
By Tim Alper
Vladimir Putin has signed a new law that will “transfer control” of a new Russian crypto mining registry to the country’s tax body.
According to a report from Izvestia, the nation’s Federal Tax Service (FTS) will now take control over a registry of industrial crypto miners.
Home-based miners will not need to sign up to the registry, provided they do not exceed caps on energy usage.
Russian Crypto Mining Regulation: Moscow Moving Fast
The new law essentially amends a bill that was fast-tracked through the State Duma earlier this year. The previous bill gave the Ministry of Digital Development control over the register.
However, the FTS appears to have concluded that if it is to succeed in its assignment to tax crypto miners, it needs to have full control over the register.
Government Agencies Get New Powers
The new law will let the tax body monitor “all of” industrial crypto miners’ “currency” and crypto “sale orders.”
As such, the newspaper noted, the Russian tax authorities will “have access to all information about cryptoasset movements.” This data includes “identifier addresses and transaction histories.”
The new law also gives government agencies and investigative bodies the power to access transaction data.
These agencies include Rosfinmonitoring, the government-run anti-money laundering body, and the Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia’s top security body.
Several government-aligned bodies have also been given the power to conduct searches or demand “information upon request.”
Temporary Ban Clause
The bill’s most significant subclause pertains to temporary bans. The act will allow individual regions to issue temporary local bans on crypto mining.
This comes as a direct response to energy struggles in regions like Buryatia. The region, which borders Mongolia, has been hit with power problems blamed on miners in nearby Irkutsk.
Irkutsk is Russia’s unofficial Bitcoin (BTC) mining capital. But in recent months, the region has launched a crackdown on illegal miners.
It thinks these miners are compromising grid operations throughout Southern Siberia.
Some miners will likely welcome the news, however, as it may put an end to controversial Ministry of Energy proposals.
The ministry previously floated the idea of forcing all legal miners to shut down their rigs for several weeks every year to avoid potential power problems.
Multiple Bills in Pipelines
Russian officials are keen to learn the lessons of the de facto state of Abkhazia, where crypto miners have been blamed for years of electricity shortages and blackouts.
Putin appears determined to accelerate Russia’s crypto pivot. After years of impasse that left the industry almost entirely unregulated, Moscow is now working on multiple bills that will let it police the sector.
Industrial crypto miners have promised that letting the FTS supervise their activities will help boost the Treasury’s coffers with millions of dollars per year.
The industry welcomed the new law, claiming it was a further step toward the legitimization of an industry that is only now stepping out of the shadows.
New IT Jobs
The BitRiver Communications chief Oleg Ogienko told Izvestia that allowing mining to move “into the legal field” would “help develop the IT sector and create jobs.”
Ogienko and others have also claimed that “legislative measures” will help Moscow combat so-called “gray” (illegal) miners, who “create energy shortages in some regions.”
BitRiver and others have moved quickly since Putin signed the nation’s first crypto mining “legalization” law on August 9.
Russia’s biggest miner has announced plans to work with a government agency to build crypto mining and AI facilities in BRICS member states.
And Russian regions are also stepping up plans to build crypto mining centers in parts of the country not normally associated with mining.