Russia sets up licensed crypto trading market, payments still off-limits
Regulation & Gov ·
President Vladimir Putin has signed the country's first broad legal framework for digital currencies, opening a supervised channel for buying and selling crypto while keeping its use as a means of payment prohibited.
The measure, described in a Decrypt report, brings exchanges, custodians, brokers and clearing firms under a single regulatory structure overseen by the central bank. Only entities entered on a government registry will be permitted to operate trading venues, with existing platforms given until July 1, 2027 to secure that status. Registered operators must hold at least 15 million rubles, roughly $187,000, in their own capital and belong to a self-regulatory body within the financial sector.
Thresholds built into the law determine how it applies day to day: a firm crosses into regulated exchange activity once its monthly trading volume passes 3.5 million rubles, and banks are required to reject transfers they suspect are being routed through platforms that lack registration. Retail investors who are not accredited can purchase a still-undisclosed list of the most liquid cryptocurrencies through licensed intermediaries, capped at 300,000 rubles per year for each intermediary, and must pass a knowledge assessment beforehand; qualified investors face no such cap. Crypto holders are also granted court protection regardless of whether their holdings were previously declared.
The payments restriction remains firmly in place — crypto cannot be used to settle purchases of goods or services, and advertising that promotes such use is barred. That prohibition builds on mining rules Russia adopted in 2024, with the new law addressing the trading and custody gap those earlier rules left open. Most provisions are due to take effect September 1, a date that also aligns with the central bank's separate push requiring banks to support the digital ruble.
One carve-out is likely to draw outside attention: the law permits settlements tied to foreign trade contracts between Russian residents and nonresidents, along with transactions involving mined coins and transfers within crypto platforms — provisions relevant given Russia's reliance on crypto for cross-border trade amid sanctions pressure.
Elsewhere, regulators are moving in the opposite direction on oversight of transfers rather than trading: Brazil has tightened rules on crypto transfers aimed at curbing fraud, according to Reuters, underscoring that two major economies are approaching crypto controls from different angles at roughly the same time.
Still undisclosed is the specific list of cryptocurrencies non-accredited investors will be allowed to trade, and how strictly banks will enforce the block on transfers tied to unregistered platforms once the framework takes hold in September.