Chinese Bitcoin Digger Received Enlistment Notice in Russia On February 23, 2025, the Chinese Consulate General in Russia once again reminded Chinese citizens in Russia to pay attention to Presidential Decree No. 821 issued by Putin. This law presents a very realistic "death choice" for Chinese miners in Russia: either give up their residency status or join the military first. If you want to stay compliant and earn rubles, you may have to go to the conflict zone first. The law is very clear: foreign males aged 18 to 65 who want to apply for a long-term residence permit in Russia must agree to serve in Russian military units for at least one year. Once, miners went to Siberia for cheap electricity bills, but now that the mining machines have not recovered their costs, people may have been treated as "consumables" for now. Nowadays, those gold miners still have computing power worth millions. Can they escape unscathed? 1、 A compliant dead loop, wanting to be legal, joining the army first. Many miners who go abroad to Russia feel like they are just passing by to make money across borders, and the frontline firepower has nothing to do with them. But since last year, a chain of nets specifically targeting foreign miners has been quietly laid. The first step is to 'lure the snake out of its hole'. Russia officially legalizes cryptocurrency mining in 2024, which once became a paradise in the eyes of miners. But the prerequisite is that individual businesses or enterprises with high power consumption must join the official "miner registry" and report their wallet address and income completely naked. Not reporting will result in high fines and confiscation of equipment. This move forced all miners who wanted to legally earn stable money to voluntarily submit their names and backgrounds. As soon as the details are handed in, the next step becomes logical. The second step is' identity locking '. As a foreigner, in order to legally register large-scale mining, you must have a long-term residence permit in Russia or a registered address within Russia. And this is precisely the most dangerous move in the entire bureau. Step three, "Seven Inches of Snake Strike". In 2025, the Russian Presidential Decree No. 821 will be implemented, completely changing the application rules for long-term residence permits. Either submit your Russian military service contract or provide proof of your unsuitability for service. This blow directly targeted a large number of foreign male workers who went to Russia to mine - they had hoped to register as individual businesses or companies for long-term residency, but now this path has been blocked. Closed loop, locked in here. If you want to mine legally, you need to register with your real name; To register, you need to obtain a residence permit; To obtain a residence permit, one must be ready to go to the front line at any time. First, use legal bait to make you appear, then use heavy punishment to force you to comply, and finally use a residence permit to accurately wash you into a potential source of soldiers. You think you're carrying a machine to mine Bitcoin, but in the eyes of the wartime machine, you're the 'mine'. 2、 Since taking long-term residency carries risks, can we rely on business visas to "fight guerrilla" in gray areas? The answer is no, this road is completely blocked. In the past, many miners relied on "leaving the country every 90 days" to exploit loopholes, and even hired local people to hold mines on their behalf. But starting from 2025, Russia will use several ruthless tactics to clean up individuals, behaviors, and assets one by one. Firstly, immigration control imposes heavy penalties on individuals. The "Controlled Persons Register" that will come into effect in Russia in February 2025 is very accurate. Once there is a problem with the visa, the bank account will be instantly controlled, and even daily expenses will have extremely low limits. More importantly, the police can detain and initiate deportation procedures within 48 hours without the need for court approval. Relying on business contracts to mine is essentially illegal work, and may become the next person to be expelled at any time. Another change in the nature of legal actions. According to the draft amendment to the Criminal Law in December 2025, illegal mining faces a maximum of 5 years in prison and a huge fine. Previously, it was considered a violation at most, but now it is a criminal offense. The living space in the gray area is being gradually eroded by the law. Immediately after, assets were targeted. In February 2026, Putin further signed a new law granting courts the authority to directly confiscate mining equipment and Bitcoin involved in the case. Nasdaq listed company The9 once said that Russia may "nationalize and confiscate assets of foreign companies in specific circumstances". In Russia, it is useless to hang machines under anyone's name, as long as they are suspected of being illegal, they will be confiscated. Besides, you can't hide it at all. Starting from the end of 2024, the Russian power grid has established a "heaven earth integrated" inspection network. Aerial, thermal imaging unmanned aerial vehicle precise locking; Real time monitoring of ground and AI electric meters; Terminal, intelligent algorithm actively recognizes. In Dagestan alone, 73 cases of illegal electricity mining were detected from January to November 2025, resulting in a loss of 85.7 million rubles. The four roads of people, behavior, assets, and hiding places are all blocked. The window for low-key mining by exploiting visa loopholes is closing. 3、 The national machine only needs energy, not just computing power. Even if the identity is established and the risks of proxy holding are overcome, there will not be enough electricity for mining in Russia. After the domestic withdrawal of mining in 2021, Siberia, Russia, has become a refuge for miners worldwide due to its natural low temperature and electricity prices of a few cents. The largest mining company in Russia, BitRiver, started here and at its peak managed 175000 mining machines. In those years, as long as there was electricity and courage, money would come along. But the power grid can no longer sustain it. By the end of 2024, mining armies will consume 1.5% of Russia's national electricity, and many power grids are on the brink of overload. The aging infrastructure needs to be maintained, and the heating of the people cannot be interrupted. In Russia's non natural gas areas, electric heating is the most affordable way of heating in winter. Therefore, these "electricity consumers" have naturally become the first targets to be targeted. Starting from 2025, bans will be implemented intensively. Several regions in the North Caucasus and Siberia have experienced complete power outages or seasonal power restrictions, even BitRiver has been unable to withstand them. However, what crushed it was not the price of Bitcoin, but a combination of judicial debt collection, account freezing, and regional power restrictions. As for foreign miners without local backgrounds, they will only be the first to be sacrificed under the triple strangulation of "identity threshold (military service contract+controlled personnel registration)+energy control+asset confiscation". The window of opportunity for wild growth through cheap electricity and courage has closed. In the face of tough policies, computing power is just code that can be unplugged at any time. When it was withdrawn from the domestic market in 2021, everyone was betting on the same thing: if the sky is high and the emperor is far away, you can live with electricity. Four years have passed, and the fact has given another answer. You can run under the supervision of one country, but not under the conscription order of another country. In the story of global miner migration, the chapter on Russia is coming to an end. The time window left for those people and machines who have not yet been withdrawn is limited.