How the Central Bank Will Regulate Cryptocurrencies in Russia. The Main Points

The Bank of Russia has published a concept for regulating the cryptocurrency and digital asset market. The regulator has sent the corresponding proposals for legislative changes to the government for consideration.

According to the concept, both qualified and non-qualified investors will be able to acquire crypto assets, but specific rules will be established for each category. Digital currencies and stablecoins are recognized as currency values; they can be bought and sold, but they cannot be used for payments within the country.

"The Bank of Russia still considers cryptocurrencies to be a high-risk instrument. They are not issued or guaranteed by any jurisdiction, are subject to high volatility and sanctions risks. When deciding to invest in crypto assets, investors must be aware that they are taking on the risks of potentially losing their funds," the regulator's statement says.

The legislative framework is planned to be prepared by July 1, 2026. Starting from July 1, 2027, liability for illegal activities of intermediaries in the cryptocurrency market is planned to be introduced, similar to the liability for illegal banking activities.

Key Points

• Non-qualified investors will be able to acquire the most liquid cryptocurrencies, for which criteria will be established in the legislation, but only after passing a test and within a limit—no more than 300 thousand rubles per year through one intermediary.
• Qualified investors will be able to acquire any cryptocurrencies, except anonymous ones (whose smart contracts hide information about token transfers to recipients), without restrictions on transaction volumes, but also only after passing a test to understand their risks.
• It will be possible to carry out operations with cryptocurrencies through the existing infrastructure: exchanges, brokers, and trust managers will be able to operate based on existing licenses. Separate requirements will be established only for special depositories and exchangers that will work with cryptocurrencies.
• Residents will be able to acquire cryptocurrency abroad (paying for it from foreign accounts) and transfer previously purchased cryptocurrency through Russian intermediaries abroad, but such operations will need to be reported to the tax service.

DFA Market

The new regulation will also affect the market of digital financial assets (DFA). The circulation of DFA and other Russian digital rights (utility, hybrid) will be permitted in open networks. This will allow issuers to freely attract investments from abroad, and clients to acquire DFA on terms no worse than acquiring cryptocurrency.

Russian digital financial assets (DFA) are tokenized versions of real assets that are issued using blockchain technology. This category does not include cryptocurrencies or tokens traded on crypto exchanges.

DFA are issued only through operators officially approved by the Bank of Russia. Such operators include Sber, A-Token, the Atomize and Masterchain platforms, and others.

Unlike tokens, which in the crypto market are commonly referred to as tokenized "real world assets" (RWA), DFA do not use public blockchain networks, but use private blockchains and their own rules for asset digitization.