Russia to legalize crypto in September, targets $40B market

Russia’s new “digital currency” law will enter into force on September 1 to make some crypto transactions perfectly legal while permanently prohibiting others.

The legislation expands access to assets like Bitcoin, most notably for non-professional investors and players circumventing war-related Western sanctions and restrictions.

Russian crypto regulations to come into effect on Tuesday

Starting from the first day of September 2026, operations with cryptocurrencies in Russia will be largely governed by the law “On Digital Currency and Digital Rights.”

The comprehensive regulatory framework, which enters into full force now, was passed by both houses of Russian parliament in July and signed by President Putin in early August.

It represents Moscow’s first attempt to legalize crypto transactions like investment and trading, while ensuring these are confined within the limits of an infrastructure under its control.

Russian citizens, including non-professional investors, will gain legal access to digital assets, but the legislation imposes a ban on domestic crypto payments, which stems from texts in the constitution.

Thus, the ruble, including its digital form which will also be rolled out on September 1, will remain the only legal tender, preserving its exclusive status as national currency and sole monetary unit.

In a press release on Monday, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) officially announced the launch of the digital ruble. The regulator will be open its CBDC system for public use in several stages, as reported by Cryptopolitan.

Crypto to serve as investment asset and settlement tool in foreign trade

The key objective of the 290-page document is to regulate the circulation of digital assets within Russia’s economy and their use in foreign trade, while setting requirements for market participants.

Under the legislation, cryptocurrency will be mainly used as an investment instrument inside the Russian Federation and a payment tool for cross-border transactions with foreign-based partners.

In the first case, Russian residents will be free to acquire digital coins, depending on their qualifications, but only through intermediaries licensed and registered with the Bank of Russia.

The second scenario allows Russian entities to employ digital money for international settlements, helping them circumvent fiat restrictions imposed over Moscow’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Some companies are already doing that within an experiment launched last year, which will now become a permanent option, as the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily noted in an article.

Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether’s USDT to be widely available

Under the same experimental regime, Russian authorities granted “highly qualified” investors access to cryptocurrencies and their derivatives in the spring of 2025.

The new law now expands it to include non-professional investors. Even ordinary Russians will be able to buy certain digital assets, although not without strict limitations.

Only the most liquid and capitalized coins will be available to them. The shortlist currently includes Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Tether’s dollar-pegged stablecoin USDT.

The top three coins meet Russia’s criteria – a market cap exceeding 5 trillion rubles and an average daily trading volume of over 1 trillion rubles over the past two years (approx. $58 billion and $11.5 billion respectively).

The monetary authority in Moscow made it clear it might add more currencies in the future. Also, the restrictions do not apply to professional investors as well as exporters and importers.

Non-qualified investors will be permitted to acquire no more than 300,000 rubles’ worth of crypto annually (less than $3,500 at the current exchange rate) per each intermediary they are working with.

Cryptocurrency will be traded only through authorized intermediaries

Regardless of the use case, all trading must take place through approved banks, brokers, trust managers, stock exchanges, and digital depositories, the latter being a new category of custodians.

These will be mainly specialized divisions of traditional financial institutions which will be permitted to provide intermediary services in the crypto market under their existing licenses.

Other, already active coin trading platforms will have to apply for and obtain a license from the CBR to continue to operate. The central bank is yet to publish a list of authorized venues.

To be recognized as legitimate crypto exchanges, the entities that have been working in the absence of proper rules until now must have equity of at least 15 million rubles (over $170,000).

All investors will have to take a test with the Bank of Russia to determine whether they understand what kind of instruments they are going to buy and if they are aware of the relevant risks.

While the law does not tolerate transfers to self-hosted wallets, Russians will be able to legalize the coins they already have by depositing them to a custodial wallet.

There are also no restrictions on opening wallets with foreign exchanges or sending cryptocurrency abroad, as long as Russia’s Federal Tax Service (FNS) is notified and a domestic intermediary is involved.

The law also recognizes crypto assets as property that can be not only transferred, but also inherited, and even divided as a result of a divorce, for instance.

Up to 30 million Russian citizens are believed to own some cryptocurrency, with the associated daily turnover reaching 50 billion rubles (nearly $580 million).

According to Anatoly Popov, deputy chairman of Sberbank’s board, the annual trading volume through licensed exchanges may reach 4 trillion rubles ($46 billion) in the first year after legalization.

In an interview with TASS, the high-ranking executive of Russia’s largest bank added that the total may increase to 5.25 trillion rubles by 2028, and to 7.5 trillion rubles by 2029, after market players obtain their licenses by July 2027.

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