Yesterday, a friend of mine who mines in Siberia posted an update: I received a Russian conscription notice.

This is not a joke; it’s the most surreal reality of 2026.

Those Chinese who went abroad to mine Bitcoin years ago now face a deadly choice: either pack up their machines and leave or pick up a gun and go to the front lines.

Want to mine legally in Russia and earn rubles? First, go experience a conflict zone.

Heaven turns into hell, all with a single decree

After China cracked down on mining in 2021, countless miners fled to Siberia with their equipment. Electricity costs just a few cents, natural low temperatures—an absolute mining paradise.

But Putin’s Presidential Decree No. 821 overnight turned paradise into hell.

The law is simple: foreign males aged 18 to 65 who want a long-term residence permit in Russia must serve in the Russian military for at least one year.

You might think you’re just mining Bitcoin, but in wartime, your machines see you as that "mine."

A three-step trap, specially designed to harvest foreign miners

This isn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision; it’s a carefully laid trap.

Step 1: Lure the snake out of its hole. In 2024, Russia legalized mining, requiring large-scale miners to register with real names, report wallet addresses and income. Failure to do so results in fines and confiscation of equipment.

Step 2: Lock in identity. To legally register a mining operation, you must have a Russian long-term residence permit. This is the deadliest move in the entire scheme.

Step 3: Strike the snake’s vital point. When the new law takes effect in 2026, the conditions for holding a residence permit change: you must either submit a military service contract or prove you are unfit for service.

The loop is closed. To mine legally, you must register with your real identity; to do that, you need a residence permit; to get a residence permit, you must prepare to go to the front lines.

First, lure you with legalization, then force compliance with harsh penalties, and finally, turn your residence permit into a conscription source.

The gray areas are also disappearing

Since obtaining long-term residence carries risks, can you rely on a business visa to operate guerrilla-style?

The answer is no. This route is also being shut down.

In February 2025, Russia’s "Controlled Persons Registry" came into effect. If your visa has issues, your bank accounts are immediately controlled. Police can arrest and deport you within 48 hours.

Even more severe, the new criminal law classifies illegal mining as a criminal offense, with a maximum of 5 years in prison. Previously, it was just a violation; now, it’s jail time.

The new law in February 2026 is even more ruthless: courts can directly confiscate mining equipment and Bitcoin.

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

No electricity either

Even if you manage to verify your identity and survive the risks, the power supply can’t hold out.

By the end of 2024, mining consumed 1.5% of Russia’s total electricity, causing overloads in many regions’ grids. With citizens needing heating and infrastructure maintenance, these "electricity-consuming giants" naturally became the first targets.

Even Russia’s largest mining company, BitRiver, couldn’t withstand it. They didn’t lose because of Bitcoin prices but because of judicial debt collection, account freezes, and regional power restrictions.

Foreign miners? Under the triple threat of identity barriers, energy controls, and asset confiscation, they are the first to be sacrificed.

Hash power can’t compete with the state machinery

When they withdrew from China in 2021, everyone bet: as long as the sky is high, the emperor is far away, and there’s electricity, they can survive.

Four years later, the harsh truth has been revealed: you can’t outrun a country’s regulation, and you can’t escape its conscription order.

The miners and machines still in Siberia have little time left.

In the story of global miner migration, Russia’s chapter is coming to an end. The next destination? No one knows.

But one thing is certain: in this world, there is no such thing as an eternal mining paradise. #深度创作营 $BTC