Tajikistan Cracks Down on Crypto Operations That Steal Electricity

• The parliament of Tajikistan just passed a new law that makes it illegal to mine cryptocurrencies with stolen electricity. The penalties include jail time or big fines.
• Depending on how big the theft was, people who break the law could have to pay fines of 15,000 to 75,000 somoni (about $1,400 to $7,000) or go to jail for 2 to 8 years.
• This decision comes at a time when the country is still having trouble with energy shortages caused by illegal mining, which has cost millions of dollars and caused power outages.

Tajikistan is stepping up its fight against cryptocurrency miners who steal power to run their operations. Lawmakers in the country have agreed to changes to the criminal code that will help deal with this growing problem in Central Asia.

Article 253(2) is added to the amendments. It makes it illegal to mine digital assets with power that was obtained illegally. People who break the rules could pay fines of 15,000 to 37,000 somoni or spend 2 to 5 years in prison. If the theft is big, though, the time in jail goes up to 5 to 8 years. This is a big change from before, when these kinds of actions usually only got civil penalties or equipment seizures.

On December 3, Attorney General Khabibullo Vokhidzoda brought the bill to parliament. He said that stolen power for mining has caused blackouts in a number of cities. He said, “The illegal circulation of virtual assets facilitates a number of crimes, such as the theft of electricity, material damage to the state, money laundering, and other offences”

Tajikistan gets 95% of its electricity from hydropower, but in the winter, when water levels are low, there are shortages. Illegal miners make this worse by connecting thousands of power-hungry devices to the grid without paying. MP Shukhrat Ganizoda said that people who do bad things often find ways to get around meters or use other tricks to avoid being caught.

As of August 2025, the authorities were working on 190 cases that involved almost 4,000 people and cost $4.26 million in damages. Earlier reports said that losses from illegal mining were around 32 million somoni, or $3.52 million. This only led to a few criminal investigations. This new law is meant to fill in those gaps and stop more thefts from happening.

Since China banned crypto mining in 2021, many businesses moved to places like Tajikistan where electricity is cheaper and rules are less strict. But the government is tightening controls as energy problems get worse. The updates also try to stop people from not paying their taxes and trading goods that aren’t tracked that are linked to crypto.

Tajikistan hasn’t completely banned crypto yet, but the law is still unclear, which makes it hard for miners to know what to do. Countries next door have similar problems. For example, Malaysia recently looked into $1 billion in stolen electricity linked to Bitcoin mining.

Note: This news was written by our editor, rewritten with the help of AI, and reviewed by our editor to ensure its accuracy and compliance with our standards.