Russian parliament to prioritize cryptocurrencies and stablecoins next year

Cryptocurrencies and stablecoins will be in the focus of Russian legislative efforts next year, a prominent member of the parliament in Moscow has indicated.

Creating a legal framework for digital finance will be a top priority, the high-ranking lawmaker emphasized as Russia moves to regulate its crypto space.

Digital assets and finance become Russia’s priority

Russian legislators will put a particular emphasis on adopting rules for the country’s market for digital financial assets, cryptocurrencies, and stablecoins in 2026.

The pledge came from the head of a parliamentary body with significant influence over the legislative process in this field.

Digital finance will be one of the most important topics of the new year, along with Islamic banking and the fight against fraud, detailed Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the Financial Markets Committee at the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament.

Legislators will prioritize the establishment of a legal framework in these areas, the Russian deputy insisted in a post on Telegram, summing up the results of a discussion on the matter held at a conference devoted to banking law.

Quoted by the business news portal RBC on Thursday, Aksakov elaborated:

“The focus will be on the development of the market for digital financial assets (DFAs), cryptocurrencies, and stablecoins.”

The issuance and placement of DFAs, or instruments such as tokenized assets and securities, were regulated with the Russian law “On Digital Financial Assets,” which went into force a few years ago.

The latter two categories, representing decentralized digital currencies like Bitcoin or fiat-pegged stablecoins like Tether, remained outside of that act’s scope.

They are still largely a gray area in Russia, although some related activities, such as cryptocurrency mining, for example, were regulated with dedicated legislation adopted in 2024.

Russian government to grow domestic DFA market

Starting next year, debt-based DFAs will be treated like traditional bonds for tax purposes, Aksakov unveiled. He believes this will facilitate the rapid expansion of the market.

On Wednesday, his committee approved a bill designed to regulate the issuance of digital financial assets secured by mortgages.

The deputy is convinced that once passed by the Duma, the law will further broaden the implementation of these products. He explained:

“This will open up opportunities for integrating DFAs with the housing market and other assets, strengthening the investment role of digital finance as an alternative to bank lending and traditional bonds.”

New Year brings crypto regulations and digital ruble

Anatoly Aksakov reminded that the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) has already announced its intentions to introduce comprehensive crypto regulations in 2026.

Moving away from its long-standing position against permitting free crypto transactions in the Russian economy, the regulator signaled this week it’s ready to back the relaxation of rules governing the circulation of cryptocurrencies.

Currently, crypto assets and their derivatives can be acquired, traded and spent within a very limited “experimental legal regime” (ELR) and by a narrow group of privileged market players such as companies involved in foreign trade, financial firms and “highly qualified” investors.

The monetary authority is currently discussing with the Ministry of Finance how to expand investor access and regulate transactions outside the ELR. Earlier, it revealed it’s going to permit banks to work with digital coins and allow funds to invest in crypto-based derivative instruments.

This week, Bank of Russia’s First Deputy Governor Vladimir Chistyukhin also unveiled that the two regulatory bodies are considering whether to classify stablecoins as a separate category.

In September, Russia recognized the Russian-ruble pegged stablecoin A7A5, which accounts for almost half of the non-dollar stablecoin market, as a digital financial asset, revealing it’s going to use it for its foreign trade, despite Western sanctions.

2026 is also bringing the wide implementation of the digital ruble, as hoped for by Russian authorities. The central bank digital currency issued system developed by the CBR will be open for public use in several stages, with the first starting on September 1.

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