26th December 2025 – (Moscow) Russia’s two leading trading venues, Moscow Exchange and St Petersburg Exchange, have signalled they are ready to begin offering regulated cryptocurrency trading as soon as the country’s new legal framework comes into force, expected by mid‑2026.
Their statements follow the Bank of Russia’s publication on 23rd December of a regulatory concept paper that sets 1st July 2026 as the deadline for putting in place a comprehensive legislative regime for digital assets.
Moscow Exchange said it is “actively working on solutions to service the cryptocurrency market”, while St Petersburg Exchange stressed that it already has “the necessary technological infrastructure for trading and settlements” in place.
Russia’s shift towards a regulated crypto market gathered pace in mid‑2024, when the Ministry of Finance first proposed permitting qualified investors to trade digital assets on licensed exchanges. At the time, Anatoly Aksakov, chair of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, noted that major exchanges were already “actively involved in developing the cryptocurrency market and organising the necessary infrastructure”.
Under the emerging framework, access conditions will differ sharply between qualified and non‑qualified investors. Retail, non‑qualified investors will only be allowed to buy liquid cryptocurrencies from a pre‑approved list and must first pass knowledge assessments. Their annual purchases will be capped at 300,000 roubles (around US$3,800), and must be conducted via a single authorised intermediary.
Qualified investors will not face volume limits but will also be required to pass tests demonstrating awareness of the risks associated with digital assets. Even so, they will be prohibited from acquiring privacy‑focused tokens that obscure transaction details.
Despite the impending rollout of trading infrastructure, Russian officials have made clear that cryptocurrencies will not be permitted as a means of domestic payment. Aksakov reiterated on 17 December that digital assets “will never become money within our country” and will be confined to the role of investment instruments, with all payments inside Russia required to be made in roubles.
This stance marks a significant evolution from the central bank’s earlier position. The Bank of Russia initially called for a blanket ban on crypto exchanges and token trading, but the impact of Western sanctions has pushed policymakers towards a more pragmatic, regulated model.
In parallel, Russia’s wider crypto ecosystem has expanded well beyond speculative trading. Between July 2024 and June 2025, the country handled an estimated US$376.3 billion in incoming cryptocurrency transactions, surpassing the United Kingdom’s US$273.2 billion and making Russia Europe’s largest crypto market by transaction volume, according to Chainalysis.
Large transfers exceeding US$10 million grew by 86% in Russia over that period, almost double the 44% increase recorded across the rest of Europe. Decentralised finance (DeFi) activity surged eightfold in early 2025 before settling at roughly three and a half times its mid‑2023 level. A major driver has been A7A5, a rouble‑pegged stablecoin that has reached a market capitalisation of around US$500 million, becoming the world’s largest non‑dollar stablecoin despite sanctions pressure.
Crypto mining has also developed into a strategically important sector. Industry estimates suggest Russia generates tens of thousands of bitcoins annually, with daily mining revenues of roughly 1 billion roubles, and that the country accounted for over 16% of global hashrate during the summer months. Senior Kremlin adviser Maxim Oreshkin has argued that mining should be formally recognised as an export activity, as the resulting digital assets flow abroad even without crossing physical borders.
Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina recently acknowledged that mining activity supports the rouble, although she cautioned that its precise impact is difficult to measure given the significant scale of unregulated operations. Illegal mining is believed to cost the country billions of dollars a year through electricity theft and tax evasion. Russia moved to legalise crypto mining on 1st November 2024, requiring corporate miners to register with the Federal Tax Service.
Big finance has begun to move into the space as well. Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, has launched regulated crypto‑linked investment products, including structured bonds and digital financial instruments tied to Bitcoin, Ethereum and diversified crypto baskets, with a total volume of around 1.5 billion roubles. Deputy Chairman Anatoly Popov has spoken of “active dialogue” with the central bank on how to integrate such services within a regulated framework while the bank develops its own blockchain infrastructure.
Under the current timetable, Russia aims to finalise its legislative architecture for digital assets by 1st July 2026. Provisions introducing liability for illegal crypto intermediary activities are scheduled to take effect a year later, from 1st July 2027, marking a phased transition from largely unregulated activity to a tightly controlled digital asset market.
