Russia's new cryptocurrency framework took effect today, opening regulated trading through licensed intermediaries while prohibiting crypto payments for goods and services within the country.
The regulation, which parliament passed in July, creates a dual framework: residents and businesses can buy and sell digital assets through authorized brokers, but cannot use crypto as a means of payment domestically. The framework also caps retail investor holdings at 600,000 rubles, equivalent to roughly $6,000 at current exchange rates.
The law designates the Bank of Russia and the Financial Markets Authority as joint regulators. Licensed intermediaries, brokers and exchanges that meet capital and compliance requirements, can now operate trading venues. The central bank has already begun accepting applications from firms seeking to operate as authorized dealers.
Russia's crypto market operated in legal gray space for years. Regulators had tolerated trading but provided no formal framework, leaving exchanges and investors without statutory protection or clarity on tax treatment. The new law replaces that ambiguity with explicit permission for trading paired with explicit prohibition on spending crypto domestically, a structure designed to allow financial asset trading while preventing crypto from functioning as alternative currency.
Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether are among the assets approved for trading under the framework. The Bank of Russia has published a full list of eligible digital assets and says it will update the list quarterly based on market conditions and compliance assessments.
The cap on retail holdings distinguishes Russian regulation from frameworks in the United States and European Union, which set no ownership limits. The 600,000-ruble ceiling applies only to individuals; institutional investors face no holdings restriction. Brokers must enforce the limit through account monitoring and rejection of orders that would breach it.
Russia joins El Salvador and a handful of other nations in legalizing crypto trading through official channels while restricting its use as payment. Unlike El Salvador, which designated Bitcoin legal tender, Russia explicitly excludes crypto from payment rails, a choice that preserves the ruble's role as sole legal tender while allowing state-supervised trading. The framework took 18 months to draft and pass through parliament, with regulators arguing the staged approach lets them monitor market behavior before expanding approved use cases.
