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That bill is now law. Putin signed it on August 6, 2026. The core provisions take effect September 1, 2026 — weeks away. Some measures governing non-resident digital depositories follow on July 1, 2027.
Russia has taken its most significant legislative step yet toward a regulated cryptocurrency market. The State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, passed bill No. 1194918-8 — titled “On Digital Currency and Digital Rights” — in its second and third readings this week. The bill now proceeds to the Federation Council and requires President Putin’s signature before it becomes law.
The legislation establishes Russia’s first comprehensive framework for digital asset activity, creating five categories of regulated market participants: crypto exchanges, brokers, asset managers, custodians, and exchange service providers. The Bank of Russia would receive broad oversight authority, including the power to determine which crypto assets may be offered through licensed intermediaries, wrote CoinTelegraph.
The bill draws a clear line between qualified and non-qualified investors. Non-qualified investors would face a 300,000-ruble (approximately ,800) annual cap on crypto purchases through a single intermediary, with foreign transfer limits of 100,000 rubles. Qualified investors face higher but still defined limits — 3 million rubles for purchases and 1 million for transfers abroad. Crypto remains prohibited as a means of domestic payment inside Russia, but the bill explicitly permits its use in foreign trade operations — a direct reflection of Moscow’s ongoing effort to route cross-border settlements outside Western-controlled payment infrastructure.
Most provisions are set to take effect September 1, 2026, with a transition period running through July 1, 2027. After that date, all crypto transactions must flow through regulated organizations, and banks will be required to reject non-compliant transactions. Separate draft legislation covering crypto taxation and penalties is also moving through the Duma.
The move signals that Moscow is done tolerating an unregulated parallel financial system on its soil — and is now positioning that system as a tool of state economic strategy, particularly for sanctions evasion and trade with non-Western partners.
