Overview
- President Vladimir Putin signed the law on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, and core provisions take effect on September 1, 2026 with licensing and transition windows running through mid‑2027.
- The law places exchanges, brokers and digital depositories under the Bank of Russia’s supervision and requires crypto trading and custody to run through licensed institutions.
- Entities that operate exchange activity must enter a special registry and meet a minimum equity requirement of 15 million rubles while existing operators have until July 1, 2027 to register.
- Retail investors face annual purchase caps of 300,000 rubles per intermediary and mandatory suitability tests while qualified investors may trade without those caps after passing tests.
- Cryptocurrencies remain banned as a payment method inside Russia but are allowed for limited cross‑border settlements and mining or system fees, and public polling shows low awareness with 69% saying they see no clear personal benefit which may limit retail uptake and concentrate activity in large banks and exchanges.