Russia's State Duma passed a cryptocurrency law restricting non-custodial wallet transfers, raising sanction risks and deterring international counterparties.
Regulation & Gov ·
Russia's State Duma approved a cryptocurrency law imposing stringent limits on transfers to non-custodial wallets, with relaxed rules applying only to participants in foreign economic activity—even they face a 48-hour delay before moving assets to unmanaged wallets. Market participants assess that a custodial-only framework is unlikely to attract mass retail investors, citing concerns that transactions routed through Russian professional intermediaries could trigger Western regulatory scrutiny, risking account freezes and asset seizures that deter foreign counterparties from engaging with Russian platforms.
The law also caps individual annual cryptocurrency purchases at 300,000 rubles per intermediary. Experts anticipate that the restrictions will leave primarily cautious long-term investors operating within Russian legal channels, while more active market participants migrate to foreign jurisdictions. The Central Bank of Russia previously advocated for an outright ban on private cryptocurrencies but the government pursued regulation instead, arguing prohibition would worsen underlying problems. Regulators cite sanction exposure and fraud proliferation as key risks to investors.
What remains uncertain is the law's full implementation timeline and whether the compliance barriers will accelerate capital flight to offshore platforms or informal workarounds such as residency changes in other countries.