Russia greenlights mutual funds to offer crypto investments

The Central Bank of Russia intends to allow the establishment of mutual funds that will offer Russian investors another avenue to crypto assets.

A high-ranking official of the monetary authority has made it clear that the bank is going to discuss the matter with market participants in response to their requests.

Russia’s central bank is ready to expand access to the crypto market

The main financial regulator of the Russian Federation plans to consider permitting management companies to create mutual investment funds for qualified crypto investors, the Russian business news agency Prime reported, quoting one of its executives.

The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) will discuss this possibility with market players who have been demanding such an arrangement, said Olga Shishlyannikova, director of the bank’s Department of Investment Financial Intermediaries.

During a conference organized by Russia’s National Association of Securities Market Participants (NAUFOR), Shishlyannikova remarked:

“We have heard exactly the same ideas from the brokerage community … and they have received this opportunity.”

This year came with significant changes in the Bank of Russia’s conservative approach to cryptocurrencies. In March, the authority proposed to permit coin trading under an “experimental legal regime” (ELR). In May, it issued a circular authorizing financial firms to offer crypto derivatives to “highly qualified” investors, although it warned against direct investments in the risky assets.

While reporting earlier this month that investments in Russian bitcoin futures reached $16 million in the first few weeks of trading, between June 4 and June 27, the CBR didn’t miss the opportunity to note that despite their increase, the volume has been “minimal.”

“We see that investors have not reacted strongly yet, and this hype is greater among financial institutions than among the investors you are counting on,” Shishlyannikova now commented.

“Therefore, of course, we will think in this direction, but it seems to us that this is still not the main problem when it comes to the lack of investment strategies in the collective investment market,” she added, speaking of the proposal to set up mutual funds for crypto investors.

Bank of Russia still opposed to direct investments in crypto

Despite a recent estimate revealing that Russians already hold more than $25 billion worth of crypto, their country’s central bank remains opposed to providing even qualified investors with direct access to the underlying assets of the legalized derivatives.

“In general, we have had a discussion and made a decision that these crypto-based instruments are acceptable for qualified investors,” noted Olga Shishlyannikova. She explained that the situation with asset management companies is a bit different, and a simple circular won’t be enough to change it.

Amending existing regulations will be needed to allow them to create the mutual funds for crypto investments, the CBR executive clarified, speaking to media on the sidelines of the “Collective Investment Market 2025” conference.

Shishlyannikova admitted, however, that this is more likely to happen in 2026, with the Bank of Russia’s next annual regulatory plan. The authority won’t be able to update the current one, which was approved and published at the beginning of the year. The CBR representative concluded:

“Unfortunately, we don’t have the opportunity to expand this plan. Therefore, we will return to this discussion with the market next year.”

2026 is bringing other changes to Russia’s crypto space as well. The central bank will start introducing its digital ruble from September, in parallel with a new universal QR code for payments.

At the same time, fines will be imposed for using Bitcoin and the like to pay for goods and services outside the ELR framework, currently reserved primarily for cross-border settlements in foreign trade under Western sanctions.

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