Overview
- The State Duma Financial Market Committee approved a revised crypto bill for a second, substantive reading on July 8, 2026, moving the government-backed draft closer to final passage.
- The draft legally classifies cryptocurrencies as property, which would give holders civil protections in cases such as insolvency and divorce while it continues to ban domestic crypto payments.
- Lawmakers removed a proposed wallet‑address disclosure rule and replaced it with requirements to report wallet balances and transaction volumes to reduce exposure of sensitive data.
- The bill keeps a 300,000‑ruble annual purchase cap for non‑qualified retail investors, allows crypto to be used for certain investments including Russian securities and tokenized digital financial assets, and would let licensed brokers trade on foreign exchanges under jurisdictional conditions.
- New controls include a Bank of Russia role as regulator, a power to freeze large overseas or third‑party crypto transfers for up to two days, and a legislative timeline that still requires further Duma readings, Federation Council approval and the president's sign‑off before taking effect alongside the planned digital‑ruble rollout.