- The discussion on regulating the circulation of digital currencies in Russia has been ongoing for over 10 years; the approach has shifted from the idea of a ban to an experimental legal regime, and then to comprehensive regulation.
- Market estimates: Approximately 20 million cryptocurrency users in Russia, with total citizen investments amounting to 3.7 trillion rubles, and daily transaction volume around 50 billion rubles.
- The Ministry of Finance does not aim to bring a predetermined share of the market into the legal framework—rather, the priority is to create a clear and functional regulatory system.
- The capital requirements for crypto exchangers (non-banks) have been lowered during the discussion—from an initial 30 million to 15 million rubles.
- Starting July 1, 2027, criminal liability is planned for the illegal organization of crypto exchange—establishing a separate offense for operating without a license or inclusion in the registry; the severity will depend on the amount of income or damage caused. Ordinary transactions by citizens involving their own cryptocurrencies are not planned to be criminalized.
- Russian tax residents will be required to notify the Federal Tax Service about cryptocurrency transactions conducted outside the regulated framework (non-custodial wallets, etc.)—the deadline for submitting this information will be no later than 180 days after the FTS approves the relevant forms.
- The issue of Russian stablecoins is being worked on jointly with the Bank of Russia; there is no specific model or separate draft law yet.
- In the event that assets purchased through a Russian intermediary are blocked by a foreign issuer (e.g., USDT/USDC), the investor—not the custodian—will bear the losses, provided the blockage occurred for reasons beyond the custodian’s control. To address such risks, mandatory investor testing has been introduced, and for non-qualified investors, there is a limit of 300,000 rubles per year through a single intermediary.
- The Ministry of Finance is not yet naming specific target indicators (such as the share of the legal market, the volume of foreign trade settlements in cryptocurrency, etc.)—it considers this premature.
Continue reading this article on source: tass.ru