Russia Finalizes Crypto Bill as Digital Assets Gain Legal Status

• Russia’s Finance Ministry and central bank plan to finish revisions next week.
• The bill is being prepared before its second reading in the State Duma.
• Digital currencies and stablecoins would be treated as currency valuables.

Russia is moving closer to a formal crypto framework as the Finance Ministry and the Bank of Russia prepare final amendments to a digital currency regulation bill. Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov said the revised version should be ready at the start of next week, before the bill moves toward its second reading in the State Duma. 

The proposal would not make Bitcoin, stablecoins, or other crypto assets legal payment tools inside Russia. Instead, it would place them under a regulated investment and trading framework, giving users legal access while keeping payments restricted.

Russia Prepares Crypto Bill Revisions

Chebeskov said the Finance Ministry and the central bank are working on the bill through the parliamentary committee led by Anatoly Aksakov. The goal is to complete the updated text next week, after months of talks over how Russia should regulate digital currencies. 

The bill follows a concept prepared earlier by the Bank of Russia. Under that approach, digital currencies and stablecoins would be recognized as currency valuables. That means users could legally buy and sell them under defined rules.

However, the same concept keeps a firm line on payments. Crypto assets may be traded, but they cannot be used to pay for goods and services inside Russia. This keeps the ruble as the only domestic payment unit while giving crypto a controlled legal path.

For users, the change would reduce legal uncertainty. Russians who already hold or trade digital assets would gain a clearer route through approved intermediaries, rather than relying only on informal or offshore channels.

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What It Means for Users

The biggest change concerns non-qualified investors. The Bank of Russia’s concept allows it to buy highly liquid crypto assets, but only after passing a test and within a limit of 300,000 rubles per year through one intermediary. 

That limit shows regulators still view crypto as risky. The central bank has repeatedly called digital currencies high-risk instruments, so the bill does not open the market without controls.

Qualified investors may receive broader access, while retail users face testing and annual caps. The framework also points toward regulated intermediaries, including exchanges, brokers, custodians, and other licensed market participants.

This structure may make crypto trading more formal in Russia. Users could receive clearer rules on ownership, buying, selling, reporting, and limits. At the same time, those who want to use crypto like cash inside the country would still face restrictions.

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Government Keeps Control of Digital Currency

For the government, the bill creates a way to monitor a market that already exists. Russia has debated crypto regulation for years, with the Finance Ministry supporting legalization under oversight and the central bank pushing tighter limits.

The new framework appears to balance both views. It avoids a full ban, but it also prevents crypto from becoming a parallel payment system inside Russia.

Reports on earlier government proposals said the system would rely on regulated intermediaries under Bank of Russia supervision. These could include crypto exchanges, digital depositories, exchange operators, trust managers, and brokers. 

The bill may also help authorities apply tax, anti-money laundering, and reporting rules more clearly. Once digital currencies are defined in law, regulators can set duties for platforms and users.

Russia’s next step is the revised text. If lawmakers approve it through later readings, the country’s crypto market would move from a legal gray area into a controlled system where trading is allowed, payments are banned, and retail access depends on testing and limits.