Russia Central Bank: cryptocurrency branches to be legally operational by year end

According to the Interfax news agency on Monday, Vladimir Chistyukhin, deputy governor of Russia , said that regulatory work is proceeding as planned.

Complementary regulations in the final stages of development

Chisholm said that the current work is focused on drafting the next regulation, which will be large and meaningful. He added that fine-tuning of internal rules is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.

This year Russia has seen frequent moves on crypto legislation. President Vladimir Putin signed a law in August formally establishing the use of digital currency with digital rights within his country's regulatory framework, although using Bitcoin to make payments is still prohibited.

Retailers and qualified investors admitted

Russia Central Bank has approved public trading of Bitcoin on domestic crypto exchanges. According to the current law, non-qualified investors can purchase Bitcoin , and other assets worth 300 thousand rubles (approximately 3582 US dollars) through a single intermediary institution; qualified investors are not limited in amount.

Sberbank plans to launch Bitcoin and crypto wallet custodial services by December. The bank said in August that it expects the volume of transactions for the first year of new crypto operations will reach 4 trillion rubles (about $47 billion).

Payment bans remain, with exceptions for cross-border settlements

Since 2022, Russia has been banned in the country from using digital asset as a means of payment or fiat currency . Despite Putin's past appreciation for Bitcoin , its use as a medium of exchange and currency has been prohibited for many years.

Legislators have left an exception for international settlements, but this move is likely to circumvent Western sanctions. Following the 2022 Russia-Ukraine conflict, United States and European governments excluded Russia from SWIFT's payment system.