The Moscow Exchange is preparing to launch its own digital depository for cryptocurrency transactions. The new structure will not be directly linked to the National Settlement Depository (NSD), and the project itself is planned to be put into operation at the end of 2026 or early 2027.
Several liquidity centers are forming simultaneously in the Russian crypto market—both on the exchange platform and within large financial groups. Brokers will be offered a choice: connect to the Moscow Exchange's depository or develop their own infrastructure for storing digital assets.
What the Regulator Proposes
On July 27, 2026, the Bank of Russia published a draft regulation on requirements for the activities of a digital depository, the procedure for opening and maintaining digital accounts, and operations on them. The document describes such a structure as an accounting infrastructure modeled on a securities market depository—with requirements for the information system and registers of depositors, assets, and operations.
Simultaneously, the regulator presented draft instructions on the minimum size of own funds for a digital depository:
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50 million rubles—for basic asset accounting
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100 million rubles—for administering blockchain addresses or maintaining accounts with a foreign crypto custodian
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250 million rubles—for a settlement digital depository
Who Is Already Building Their Own Infrastructure
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Sberbank plans to launch its own depository and infrastructure for cryptocurrency trading by December 1, 2026—this was announced by First Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board Alexander Vedyakhin
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Alfa-Bank was the first among Russian banks to launch test cryptocurrency trading in the Alfa-Investments application, with a full launch scheduled for the fourth quarter; Operational Director of CIB Dmitry Vitman stated that the bank plans both its own digital depository and a full range of crypto services after the regulation comes into force
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The T-Technologies Group is preparing a depository on the Atomize platform and expects to become one of the first licensed market operators, said Executive Director Vyacheslav Tsyganov
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VTB is forming a digital depository for the storage and circulation of crypto assets
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SPB Exchange announced its readiness to start cryptocurrency transactions immediately after the Bank of Russia's by-laws appear
The Law "On Digital Currency and Digital Rights" comes into force on September 1, 2026, and the transition period will last until July 1, 2027.
Thus, by the time the law comes into force, several independent depository infrastructures are being prepared simultaneously in the market—from the Moscow Exchange to the largest banks. Each of them is guided by the regulator's requirements for capital and asset accounting, and the final market configuration will depend on which structures receive licenses first.
AI Opinion
From the perspective of machine data analysis, the Russian model of depository infrastructure is choosing a path of distributed architecture: capital and licenses are distributed immediately among the exchange, banks, and brokers, rather than being concentrated with a single operator. A similar fork moment has already occurred in the region: Kazakhstan followed a centralized scenario, where the National Bank gained the right to license crypto exchanges and compile a list of permitted assets, securing for itself the status of the main market arbiter.
Such a centralized structure reduces the risk of liquidity fragmentation but increases the entire market's dependence on the decisions of a single authority. The distributed model, conversely, spreads risks among several players but may complicate the transfer of client assets when changing brokers or if problems arise on one of the platforms. Which of the two architectures will prove more resilient under external pressure is a question whose answer will only be provided by the practice of the coming months.
