The Bank of Russia has published its first draft rules introducing a framework for cryptocurrency and other digital asset activity in the country, marking a formal step in the central bank’s regulatory process. The regulations were drafted under a digital assets bill that the State Duma adopted on July 21 and that the Federation Council approved on July 24. The central bank’s cryptocurrency framework is scheduled to come into full force by September, with the draft rules released for public assessment ahead of that rollout.
The Bank of Russia’s draft proposals would extend systems already used in Russia’s securities markets to digital assets, explicitly including exchange trading, custody, record-keeping and disclosure rules. These draft rules were published as the central bank’s first formal set of rules for cryptocurrency and other digital asset activity in the country. The proposed framework was prepared under a digital assets bill that the State Duma adopted on July 21 and that the Federation Council approved on July 24. The central bank has released these proposals for public assessment and the drafts are not yet final.
The framework would create digital depositories, described in the proposals as regulated companies that would record holdings of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets. The proposals state that the central bank will maintain registers of digital depositories, crypto exchange operators and companies that issue digital financial assets. The requirements in the draft framework are also specified to apply to operators of electronic platforms that settle transactions involving digital financial assets. The proposals address digital depositories, exchange operators, issuers and electronic platform operators in relation to regulation of digital financial assets.
The central bank’s draft rules form part of the legal framework accompanying the adopted digital assets bill and remain subject to revision during public assessment. The cryptocurrency framework is scheduled to come into full force by September.
The Bank of Russia’s draft proposals set capital requirements for digital depositories and other digital financial asset operators, specifying a range of required capital from 50 million rubles to 250 million rubles with U.S. dollar equivalents provided in the proposals. The draft rules present this range as dependent on the scope of services a regulated entity provides and form part of the legal framework introduced under the adopted digital assets bill. The central bank has released these proposals for public assessment and the drafts are not yet final. The cryptocurrency framework linked to these drafts is scheduled to come into full force by September.
Under the drafts, settlement depositories would require 250 million rubles, noted with a $2.8 million equivalent. Firms that control crypto addresses or that hold assets with foreign custodians would face a requirement of 100 million rubles, given as $1.1 million. Other digital depositories would be subject to a 50 million ruble requirement, shown as $570,000. The proposals specify these different capital tiers according to the type of services provided by the regulated company. The rules also indicate that the capital requirements apply to operators of electronic platforms that settle transactions involving digital financial assets.
The proposals state that assets counted toward those capital requirements must be liquid. The drafts further specify that eligible financial assets used to meet the capital thresholds must satisfy the central bank’s credit-quality standards. The central bank would maintain registers of digital depositories, crypto exchange operators and companies that issue digital financial assets.
These capital thresholds are presented within the central bank’s broader draft regulatory framework and remain subject to revision during public assessment. The cryptocurrency framework is scheduled to come into full force by September.
The Bank of Russia’s draft proposals include several regulatory oversight mechanisms, foremost among them the central bank maintaining registers of digital depositories, crypto exchange operators and companies that issue digital financial assets. The drafts designate digital depositories, crypto exchange operators, issuers and operators of electronic platforms that settle transactions involving digital financial assets as regulated entities within the proposed framework. The proposals extend oversight to operators of electronic settlement platforms and incorporate registration and record-keeping roles that mirror systems used in securities markets. The central bank has published these drafts as its first formal set of rules for cryptocurrency and other digital asset activity in the country.
The draft rules state that the central bank will maintain the registers as part of the regulatory architecture and that the registration requirements would apply to operators of electronic platforms that settle transactions in digital financial assets. The framework addresses the registration and regulation of digital depositories and crypto exchange operators alongside companies issuing digital financial assets, thereby defining multiple categories of regulated entities. These draft proposals were prepared under a digital assets bill adopted by the State Duma on July 21 and approved by the Federation Council on July 24. The cryptocurrency framework linked to these drafts is scheduled to come into full force by September.
The central bank’s drafts and announcements on digital asset rules were published amid contemporaneous international developments, including an EU sanction package that targeted 14 crypto firms, among them the A7 stablecoin network. The central bank’s proposals are not yet final and have been released for public assessment.
