Russia Classifies Crypto Miners as Fourth Power Reliability Tier, Allowing Immediate Cutoff

This formalises crypto mining as the most interruptible load on Russia's grid, a status that matters less for miners' economics than for the precedent it sets: an industrial power user ranked below ordinary consumers by design. The practical effect falls on operators in shortage-declared regions, where capacity is now conditional and revocable rather than contracted. The open question is whether this tier becomes a template for other jurisdictions weighing mining against grid strain — and whether miners treat curtailment risk as a cost of doing business or relocate.