Russia accelerates plans for licensed crypto trading

TLDR

Russia is moving to fast?track a licensing regime for domestic crypto trading to pull a huge gray market onto supervised exchanges.

1. Officials estimate about $640 million in daily Russian crypto turnover and are preparing a law to license exchanges and brokers by the next State Duma session.
2. The framework would keep crypto banned for payments but allow regulated investment trading, with strict caps for retail users and central bank control over which coins are allowed.
3. For crypto users, this could shift volume from offshore to Russian venues, while EU proposals to curb Russia?linked crypto add sanctions and compliance risk on top.

Deep Dive

1. Planned Licensing Framework

Russias Finance Ministry and central bank are drafting a law that would require crypto exchanges and certain intermediaries to obtain licenses, with penalties for unlicensed activity comparable to illegal banking operations, according to multiple reports including crypto.news and CoinDesk.

Existing regulated infrastructure like the Moscow Exchange and major brokers would be allowed to offer spot crypto trading once the framework is in place, building on their current cash?settled futures for BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP and TRX.

Lawmakers aim to submit a draft bill around March and pass it during the spring Duma session, with some reporting a later full implementation date around mid?2027, meaning a transition period for firms to get licensed and update compliance.

2. Drivers And Market Size

Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov says Russian citizens transact roughly 50 billion rubles (about $640650 million) in crypto per day, or over 10 trillion rubles ($129 billion) annually, mostly outside regulation, as covered by CoinDesk and Cointelegraph.

Chainalysis data cited in these reports indicates Russia is now Europes largest crypto market by transaction volume, with sanctions after 2022 pushing more activity into digital assets and offshore platforms.

Authorities frame regulation as a way to bring trillions of rubles of savings and trading from the gray market into a traceable, taxable system, while trying to maintain financial stability.

3. Key Impacts And What To Watch

Draft proposals would keep the domestic ban on using crypto for payments, but allow trading as an investment product: non?qualified investors may face annual purchase caps around 300,000 rubles (about $4,000) and mandatory tests, while qualified investors get broader access and privacy coins may be excluded, according to crypto.news.

At the same time, the European Union is considering a near?total ban on digital asset transactions involving Russia to close sanctions loopholes, which could limit how Russian?licensed platforms interact with global exchanges and liquidity, as noted by Cointelegraph and follow?up analysis.

Conclusion

Russias push to license crypto trading is less about embracing digital assets and more about controlling a large, unsupervised market under sanctions pressure.

For crypto participants, the main effects will be where Russian flows trade (onshore vs offshore), which coins pass the central banks filters, and how far EU and other sanctions regimes go in restricting Russia?linked activity.