Starting September 1, a law containing new rules for the circulation of digital financial assets (DFA) comes into force. Previously, DFAs were mainly traded within closed systems, which hindered market growth. Now it will be possible to transfer them between platforms, which will expand use cases and make the assets more accessible to investors.
The provisions of the law "On Digital Currencies and Digital Rights" concerning DFAs are aimed at increasing market liquidity and overall efficiency, experts note. They told "RBC-Crypto" how this will work and what opportunities will open up for digital financial assets.
What the New Law Allows
DFAs are exiting the closed information systems of operators, where they have been "sitting" for over five years, says Alexander Nikolaev, expert of the "Digital Assets" practice at "Rexoft Consulting." He explained that the new law permits placing the issuance of digital rights, including DFAs, utility (UDP), and hybrid rights, directly on address-identifiers, i.e., on ordinary blockchain addresses.
It is even possible to split a single issuance, where one part is accounted for on accounts within the operator's system, and the other lives on-chain, the expert added. He clarified that the very concept of placement is now described through making entries on digital accounts or on address-identifiers.
Network identification by the hash of the genesis block is a way to precisely determine a specific blockchain by the unique digital signature (hash) of its very first block (genesis block). This verification is performed by blockchain nodes when connecting to the network: if the hash matches the one programmed, it means the connection has been made to the correct network.
The law also outlines the mechanism for transferring DFAs from one system to another. The operator who placed the digital rights opens a special digital account within its system, where the quantity of rights transferred to blockchain addresses is mirrored, and they can only be returned to a regular account by terminating on-chain accounting (conducting a token redemption/burning procedure), the expert explained.
The addresses are administered by a digital depository, which must also segregate client assets within the network itself, and buyer identification under "anti-money laundering" Law 115-FZ is mandatory already at the placement stage, Nikolaev added.
The second part of exiting closed systems, according to him, is that the operator no longer has the right to refuse a digital depository or another operator to open a nominee holder account in its system. For existing platforms, this rule comes into effect on September 1, 2027.
What the Changes in the DFA Market Will Lead To
The chosen approach is aimed at bringing together the markets of various types of digital assets (cryptocurrency, DFAs, utility digital rights UDP) and the traditional financial market, noted Roman Kozhura, Managing Director of the Investment Business Development Department at Sberbank. He explained that this approach will allow for a unified customer journey and unified interaction with different asset classes for clients.
The new law establishes mechanisms for future platform interoperability, which is practically absent today, the expert says. He pointed out that this will work both through the institution of nominee holding (holding an asset on an account with a broker or depository) and through the use of public blockchains.
An asset can be moved between platforms via nominee holding or withdrawn into the network, where it becomes visible to smart contracts, collateral, and settlement scenarios, which a closed operator system simply did not allow, Nikolaev explained, adding that this is why "DFAs have a chance for a normal secondary market."
"At the same time, there is less freedom than in public crypto—addresses are administered, the buyer is identified, and for non-qualified investors, testing and the annual limit of 300 thousand rubles remain," said the expert. According to Nikolaev, the restructuring will take time; existing operators must submit documents to the register of digital depositories by September 1, 2027, and bring their activities into compliance with the law by September 1, 2028.
Kozhura added that the full implementation of all the innovations provided for by the law requires the adoption of the relevant regulatory framework by the regulator. It is currently in the preparation stage.
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