Russia Passes Crypto Law With $3,800 Retail Cap

Crypto Regulation News

Russia moved closer to a regulated cryptocurrency market on July 21. The State Duma, the country’s lower house of parliament, passed bill No. 1194918-8, titled “On Digital Currency and Digital Rights,” in its second and third readings in a single session. It is now awaiting approval from the Federation Council before going to President Vladimir Putin for his signature.

Olga Goncharova, head of the Digital Financial Assets and Digital Currencies Expert Center at the Association of Russian Banks, told Cointelegraph she expects Putin to sign the bill within days. Most of its provisions are set to activate on Sept. 1, 2026. A transition period then runs through July 1, 2027, giving existing market participants time to come into compliance.

The Law Itself Is Only the Beginning

The legislation establishes five categories of regulated crypto market participants. These are exchanges, brokers, asset managers, custodians, and exchange service providers. Only organizations listed in a government-maintained registry will be permitted to operate as crypto exchanges. Firms that are currently operating without registration can continue to do so until July 1, 2027. After that deadline, all crypto transactions must flow through registered entities. Banks will be legally required to reject transfers connected to any unregistered operator once the transition period ends.

The law creates separate rules for qualified and non-qualified investors. Non-qualified investors face an annual purchase limit of 300,000 rubles, roughly $3,800, through any single licensed intermediary. They are also subject to a 100,000-ruble cap on transfers abroad. Qualified investors may purchase up to 3 million rubles worth of crypto per year and transfer up to 1 million rubles abroad. The Bank of Russia will hold authority over which assets licensed intermediaries are permitted to offer. It will also issue the implementing regulations that define how firms must operate under the new framework.

Related Article: Russia’s Duma Passes Crypto Bill Permitting Use in Foreign Trade

Goncharova said the Bank of Russia plans to issue approximately 80 additional regulatory acts before the end of 2026. Those acts will fill in the operational details the law itself leaves open. The banking sector and the central bank are also building the infrastructure the market will require. That includes a domestic Travel Rule system, blockchain node infrastructure, and crypto analytics tools. “The law itself is only the beginning,” Goncharova told Cointelegraph. “Whether it works in practice depends on several mechanisms that are still being developed by the banking community together with the Bank of Russia.”

Russia’s Domestic Payment Ban Stays in Place

The law does not lift Russia’s existing ban on using crypto to pay for goods and services inside the country. Banks and other financial institutions are also barred from advertising or promoting crypto payments to domestic consumers. Several specific exemptions are preserved, however. Crypto may be used in foreign trade settlements between Russian residents and non-residents. Transactions involving mined cryptocurrency, payments required by digital asset platforms, and settlements tied to securities or other digital assets are also permitted.

Those foreign trade exemptions reflect pressure that has been building on Russia’s ability to conduct international payments. The EU deployed its most significant sanctions package against Russia in April 2026, which specifically targeted crypto. It included an outright ban on crypto providers and platforms operating in Russia. The EU stated that Russia had grown increasingly dependent on crypto for cross-border settlements. Separately, Russian lawmakers are advancing companion bills covering crypto taxation and penalties for violations. A tax bill has already cleared its first reading in the Duma, and penalty legislation is expected to pass before the transition period ends.

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