Duma passes crypto law: exchanges under the central bank

On 21 July 2026 the Russian State Duma passed bill no. 1194918-8, ‘On Digital Currency and Digital Rights’, in its second and third readings. Russia now has its first coherent framework for crypto trading — in a country that spent years oscillating between quiet tolerance and threats of an outright ban.

The law does two things at once. It lifts trading out of the grey zone and places it under the direct supervision of the Bank of Russia. And it puts firm fences around who may trade, in what, and for how much.

Five authorisations, one competent authority

The framework sets out five authorisation categories: exchanges, brokers, management companies, depositories and exchange offices. Each category carries its own capital and organisational requirements, and every authorisation is granted and withdrawn by the Bank of Russia. Anyone serving Russian clients without one falls outside the system — with consequences that surface later in the text.

Anatoly Aksakov, chair of the Duma's financial market committee, called it ‘the first time the crypto market in Russia is given full legal protection rather than merely risk’.

Limits for ordinary investors

This is the sharpest intervention. A non-qualified retail investor may buy at most 300,000 rubles (roughly €3,300) of digital currency per year, and within that no more than 100,000 rubles (roughly €1,100) through cross-border transactions. Qualified investors — a status requiring wealth, experience or an examination — may do ten times as much: 3 million rubles (roughly €33,000) a year and 1 million rubles (roughly €11,000) cross-border.

The cap applies per investor, not per platform. Authorised firms will therefore have to account for that running total between them, which in practice means a central point of registration.

Which coins may be traded

Not everything will reach Russian venues. A digital currency only lands on the permitted list if it meets three conditions: an average market capitalisation above 5 trillion rubles (roughly €55 billion) over two years, daily trading volume above 1 trillion rubles (roughly €11 billion), and at least five years of price history.

That filter is strict enough to keep almost the entire altcoin market out. In practice a handful of large names remain.

Paying with crypto stays banned — with three exceptions

Using crypto as a means of payment inside Russia remains prohibited, and the law now attaches fines: 100,000 to 200,000 rubles (roughly €1,100 to €2,200) for individuals and 700,000 to 1 million rubles (roughly €7,700 to €11,000) for legal entities.

There are three carve-outs. Crypto-to-crypto transactions on an authorised platform are allowed. Payments for securities outside a public offering are allowed. And network fees — the gas and miner fees a transaction simply costs — fall outside the ban.

Cross-border trade settlement is permitted, provided it runs through an authorised intermediary. That is Moscow's practical objective for the whole law: a legal route for international payments that does not pass through the Western banking system.

What was stripped out

Two earlier provisions did not survive. The requirement for users to disclose their wallet addresses to the supervisor has been dropped. What did survive: banks may no longer process payments to foreign exchanges lacking a Russian authorisation, and they may hold large outbound transfers for up to 48 hours for review.

When it takes effect

The main provisions enter into force on 1 September 2026. The full authorisation regime follows on 1 July 2027 — a ten-month transitional period in which existing firms must file their applications. Formally the law is not yet done: the Federation Council still has to approve it and the president has to sign, both usually a formality after a third reading.

What it means for you

For European users nothing changes directly. Indirectly, something does: Russia is explicitly choosing a MiCA-style model of mandatory authorisation plus an approved-asset list, which further shrinks the number of large markets without clear rules. Anyone living in Russia, or with family there who sends crypto, will have to allow for the annual caps and for slower processing of large transfers from September.

Sources: Finance Magnates, crypto.news, CoinDesk, The Block. Last checked: 25 July 2026.