Overview
- Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov said crypto activity tops 10 trillion rubles a year and largely sits outside regulation.
- Central bank official Vladimir Chistyukhin signaled a bill aimed at the State Duma’s spring session with a transition period for firms to obtain licenses.
- The draft framework would open spot trading for MOEX and brokers under licenses and introduce penalties for unregistered intermediaries.
- Proposals under discussion would treat bitcoin and fiat‑linked stablecoins as currency assets, bar privacy coins, and cap exposure for non‑qualified investors near 300,000 rubles.
- MOEX cites about $15 billion in annual fees paid by Russians to foreign platforms, while the Bank of Russia tracks 933 billion rubles on offshore exchanges and Chainalysis ranks Russia as Europe’s largest crypto market.