Russia central bank says wallet ban excludes cross-border payments
Regulation & Gov ·
Russia's central bank has clarified that its planned restrictions on non-custodial crypto wallets will not interfere with international payment flows.
The clarification, reported by tass.ru, addresses concerns that a crackdown on self-custodied wallets could inadvertently block Russians from using crypto to settle cross-border transactions. According to the statement, the ban is aimed at a narrower set of domestic use cases rather than at international payment channels.
The move fits into a broader pattern of Russian authorities trying to draw precise lines around what crypto activity is permitted and what is restricted, a distinction tracked by leviathan.news's ongoing coverage of the central bank's regulatory posture. Russia already operates under a legal structure that allows ownership and trading of digital assets while barring their use to pay for goods and services domestically, so a wallet-specific carve-out for international payments would extend that same logic of permitting cross-border flexibility while tightening domestic controls.
The clarification comes as Russian regulators advance several other crypto measures in parallel, including new digital depository rules requiring platforms to hold up to $2.8 million in liquid capital ahead of a nationwide digital asset framework set to launch in September, and a separate push to criminalize unregistered crypto services unless providers register with the Bank of Russia. Sberbank has also said it is targeting a Dec. 1 rollout of crypto trading and custody services once final rules are in place, suggesting banks are positioning for a system where custodial, regulated channels operate alongside tighter restrictions on self-custody tools.
Two sources have corroborated the substance of the central bank's statement, though neither has detailed how the distinction between domestic and international wallet use will be enforced in practice. It remains unclear what technical or procedural mechanism will differentiate a non-custodial wallet used for banned domestic transactions from one used for permitted international transfers, and whether this clarification will be formalized in the digital asset framework expected in September.