Russia lowers crypto reporting threshold to 60,000 rubles

Russia is preparing additional legislation allowing Rosfinmonitoring, the country’s financial-intelligence service, to have the power to control cryptocurrency transactions and acquire detailed personal information for transactions exceeding 60,000 rubles. This plan can be interpreted as a sign showing that one of the largest channels of digital payments created during the sanctions era is going under the control of state authorities.

The issue extends well beyond Russia’s territory. Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov stated in October 2025 that approximately 20 million Russians use cryptocurrency “in one way or another” and that the scale of usage mandates the development of domestic infrastructure capable of ensuring user safety and generating innovations for economic development. In February 2026, he reiterated this point at the Alfa Talk forum when he stated that the volume of cryptocurrency transactions carried out in Russia is close to 50 billion rubles ($648 million dollars) a day, which equates to over 10 trillion a year.

Russia is also the second biggest Bitcoin mining country in the world by hashrate after the USA, according to the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance’s report, the Cambridge Digital Mining Industry Report, underscoring its importance in the global crypto market.

Furthermore, crypto has gained significant traction as a settlement tool for Russia’s foreign trade. According to reports, cross-border crypto payments conducted as part of Russian trade amounted to about 1 trillion rubles in 2025, and a large part of these transactions was connected to China, India, and Turkey.

Russia expands crypto reporting

New reporting requirements are being introduced at a time when the European Union is still assessing additional restrictions related to crypto payments stemming from Russia.

Under the draft regulation, any depository of digital assets working in Russia, as well as foreign financial institutions providing services to Russian clients, should start reporting their crypto activity to Rosfinmonitoring as soon as the amount of the transaction reaches 60,000 rubles. This is a reduction from the previous version of the legislation that set the limit at 100,000 rubles. Crypto settlement transactions related to foreign trade would be subject to reporting starting from the amount of 1 million rubles, while transactions between residents and foreigners would be reported automatically.

Мoreover, the information received by authorities has to be extensive. As stated by Bits.media, transfers over 60,000 rubles would require reporting legal or personal names of both parties, their wallet IDs, addresses, dates of birth, and tax IDs. For payments below the reporting threshold, only the name and wallet ID of the client are needed.

Banks pulled into the perimeter

The proposed legislation will also strengthen oversight over banks. It will establish limits on the volume of cryptocurrencies that banks can own. This is in line with the earlier recommendation from the head of the Financial Stability Department of the Bank of Russia, Alexander Danilov, which states that the exposure to cryptocurrencies should not exceed 1% of the bank’s capital, besides requiring that banks set aside capital to hedge against cryptocurrency exposures.

In addition, the legislation will grant the central bank the right to suspend or limit certain cryptocurrency transactions carried out by banks, a power that applies only to non-banking financial organizations at present. Lawmakers said that the need for intervention will arise only when transactions with cryptocurrency “could destabilize the financial system.”

In the meantime, lawmakers have relaxed one of the bill’s most controversial reporting requirements. After the Financial Markets Committee of the State Duma approved the draft bill “On Digital Currency and Digital Rights” for the second reading, its chairman Anatoly Aksakov said that lawmakers dropped the proposal obliging Russians to disclose their cryptocurrency wallet addresses.

What it changes for the wider market

For international token issuers, Russia’s proposed eligibility rules may prove just as consequential as its monitoring requirements. To circulate legally in Russia, a cryptocurrency would need an average market capitalization above 5 trillion rubles over two years and average daily trading volume exceeding 1 trillion rubles, thresholds that only Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) currently satisfy. Stablecoins including Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC may not qualify under the legislation because they lack an issuer obligated under the proposed legal framework.

The regulatory timetable is becoming clearer as well. The main bill was originally expected to take effect on July 1 but was delayed in the State Duma. Speaking during the Central Bank’s Financial Congress, Anatoly Aksakov said lawmakers intend to complete the legislation quickly, adding: “We will definitely legalize digital currency, the regulatory process will definitely be put in order, and the law will come into force on September 1 of this year.” Interfax separately reported that Bank of Russia First Deputy Chairman Vladimir Chistyukhin expects the package to become operational from September 1 if lawmakers complete the remaining legislative process.

If adopted substantially unchanged, exchanges, banks and foreign counterparties using crypto for trade with Russian entities will have only a short window to adapt before one of the world’s largest crypto markets begins subjecting routine digital asset transfers to comprehensive financial-intelligence reporting.

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