Russia’s State Duma handed Invoice No. 1194918-8, “On Digital Foreign money and Digital Rights,” in its second and third readings on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, shifting the nation nearer to a licensed system for crypto buying and selling, custody, and cross-border settlement.
What the Regulation Does
The laws acknowledges cryptocurrency as property reasonably than cash below the Russian civil code, giving crypto holdings judicial safety in courts, chapter filings, and divorce proceedings.
It creates 5 classes of licensed intermediaries, that are exchanges, brokers, administration corporations, depositories, and exchangers, all working below Financial institution of Russia supervision, with banks barred from sending funds to unlicensed international exchanges.
Non-qualified retail buyers face an annual buy cap of 300,000 rubles, roughly $3,800, whereas certified buyers get increased limits round 3 million rubles below separate guidelines. An earlier requirement that holders disclose particular person pockets addresses was dropped in favor of reporting balances and transaction volumes, and sure massive transfers overseas may face delays of as much as 48 hours.
Retail-eligible tokens should clear a whitelist maintained by the Central Financial institution, with draft standards requiring a mean market cap above 5 trillion rubles over two years, day by day buying and selling quantity above 1 trillion rubles, and not less than 5 years of value historical past on a licensed international trade, a bar prone to go away solely a handful of large-cap property like Bitcoin and Ethereum eligible for Russian retail buyers.
Russia’s Finance Ministry has beforehand estimated home crypto buying and selling exercise at round 50 billion rubles, roughly $640 million, per day, a lot of it at present occurring outdoors formal oversight.
Home Funds Keep Banned, With New Penalties
Crypto stays banned as a fee methodology for strange items and providers inside Russia, preserving the ruble’s function in home commerce.
A parallel measure introduces administrative fines beginning in 2026 for unlawful crypto funds, starting from 100,000 to 200,000 rubles for people and 700,000 to 1,000,000 rubles for authorized entities, with authorities in a position to confiscate crypto utilized in violation.
Andrey Medvedev, director of the Central Financial institution’s authorized division, confirmed this enforcement construction, with three slim exceptions remaining, that are crypto-to-crypto exchanges on licensed platforms, paying for securities outdoors a public providing, and overlaying blockchain community charges for on-chain transfers.
On cross-border commerce, Russian corporations can now use accredited digital property for cross-border settlements by way of licensed intermediaries, giving exporters and importers a authorized channel outdoors conventional correspondent banking.
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Grigorenko’s workplace confirmed that authorized worldwide crypto offers, together with promoting crypto overseas and settling international financial exercise, stay permitted below the brand new framework.
Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the Duma’s Monetary Market Committee, stated the laws displays business suggestions and may let corporations supplying items to Russia use crypto internationally with out extreme authorized limitations.
This comes as Western regulators improve scrutiny of Russia-linked crypto flows, with the European Fee proposing wider restrictions in June on abroad platforms accused of serving to sanctioned Russian entities transfer funds.
Russian Banks Are Already Getting ready
Main Russian monetary establishments are positioning forward of the framework taking impact.
Sberbank plans to launch a crypto pockets and custody providers and is contemplating giving shoppers entry to international exchanges.
Furthermore, VTB and T-Financial institution have introduced custody infrastructure plans, and Alfa-Financial institution has been testing crypto buying and selling with a restricted investor group whereas creating its personal digital asset depository.
Moscow Trade has proven curiosity in regulated crypto providers too, constructing on its earlier rollout of crypto indices monitoring SOL, XRP, and BNB for skilled buyers.
What Comes Subsequent
The invoice nonetheless wants Federation Council approval, anticipated inside 14 days, adopted by President Vladimir Putin’s signature, earlier than essential provisions take impact September 1, 2026, with full enforcement of the licensed-intermediary system arriving July 1, 2027. Our earlier protection of the invoice’s scheduled last vote tracked the lead-up to this passage.
Notably, Russia’s digital ruble central financial institution digital foreign money can also be set to start its broader rollout on September 1, with main banks and huge retailers required to assist it in levels, placing two main digital finance initiatives on the identical timeline. Russia is individually stated to be creating a framework for fiat-backed stablecoins centered on worldwide settlement.
What this implies for you: this regulation formalizes an institutional channel for Russian cross-border commerce and licensed home custody, not a brand new retail on-ramp, so its most speedy relevance is to corporations, exchanges, and banks positioning round compliant infrastructure reasonably than particular person buyers inside Russia.