The Bank of Russia is moving to fold crypto trading into the regulated banking system by allowing banks and brokerage firms to obtain crypto exchange licenses through a simplified notification process, Interfax reported on March 5.
Speaking at the Central Bank’s annual meeting with lending institutions, Governor Elvira Nabiullina said the proposal would let banks and brokers add crypto exchange services on top of their existing licenses rather than apply for a separate, standalone approval. The idea: leverage banks’ existing anti-money‑laundering, counter‑terrorist financing (AML/CFT) and fraud controls to better protect clients in the digital‑assets market.
“We hope that your extensive banking experience in AML/CFT, as well as your experience in countering fraud, will help protect your clients in the crypto market once it is legalized,” Nabiullina said, framing the move as a compromise between regulators and crypto market participants.
Key points of the draft rules
- Licensing would be notification‑based, allowing institutions to bolt crypto services onto current financial licences.
- Crypto and stablecoins would be classified as “currency valuables”: Russians could own and trade them, but their use as a domestic means of payment would remain restricted.
- Bank exposure to crypto would initially be capped at 1% of a bank’s capital; the cap would be reviewed after observing how banks operate within that limit.
- Qualified investors would be free to acquire crypto without restrictions. Non‑qualified (retail) investors would be limited to buying up to 300,000 rubles per year via a single intermediary.
What this means for the market
If adopted, the proposal would effectively make banks and licensed brokers the primary regulated gateways for crypto trading in Russia. Notification‑based permissions reduce friction for incumbents and push trading onshore into regulated entities with established compliance frameworks, while placing retail access under tighter controls.
This initiative is consistent with Russia’s gradual shift from hostility to tightly managed acceptance of digital assets. Since 2020 Russia has recognized digital assets as property but barred them as a domestic payment method. After flirting with a full ban in 2022, the government pivoted to “regulate, don’t ban.” By 2024–2025 the state had legalized mining, allowed limited cross‑border use, and opened the market primarily to banks and “super‑qualified” investors—leaving retail, P2P trading, and foreign platforms in a legal gray zone.
The regulator’s objective appears pragmatic: bring activity onshore to improve taxation, preserve capital controls and marginalize unlicensed foreign exchanges, rather than outlaw crypto outright. The Central Bank is targeting completion of the broader legal framework by mid‑2026, after which penalties for unlicensed intermediaries and offshore platforms that fail to localize are expected to be enforced.
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