Putin's Pending Pen: Russia's Crypto Bill Clears Duma, $BTC & $ETH Walk In, XMR Gets Canned 🇷🇺

Russia's State Duma approved bill No. 1194918-8, titled "On Digital Currency and Digital Rights," in its second and third readings on Tuesday, advancing the country's first comprehensive cryptocurrency framework toward President Vladimir Putin's signature. Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, said lawmakers "maximally" considered industry feedback during the bill's development, according to RBC. The legislation, which still requires Senate approval and the president's signature in a process Aksakov expects to take roughly two weeks, would establish a licensing regime for crypto exchanges, brokers, asset managers and custodians, with the Bank of Russia serving as the permit-issuing authority.

Main provisions are scheduled to take effect on Sept. 1, with a transition period extending until July 1, 2027. The original July 1 target was delayed by coordination bottlenecks between government agencies, per Russian outlet Kommersant. To qualify for legal trading in Russia, a cryptocurrency must carry a market capitalization above 5 trillion rubles (roughly $65 billion) and at least five years of verified trading history on a licensed foreign exchange—a threshold that currently narrows the field to Bitcoin ($BTC) and Ethereum ($ETH). Alexandra Fedotova, a lawyer at White Stone, told Parlamentskaya Gazeta that the Bank of Russia would likely publish a list of the top five or 10 most traded cryptocurrencies, adding, "These will definitely include BTC and ETH. Possibly SOL or TON may be added, given their popularity in Russia. Everything else is only for qualified investors."

Non-qualified investors face an annual purchase cap of 300,000 rubles (about $3,380) through a single licensed intermediary, while transfers abroad are capped at 100,000 rubles. Qualified investors are limited to 3 million rubles for purchases and 1 million rubles for overseas transfers. Privacy-focused tokens, including Monero ($XMR), Zcash ($ZEC) and Dash, are excluded entirely. "The CBR directly states: you cannot buy coins that hide recipients," Fedotova said, noting the Bank of Russia bars any cryptocurrency deemed a threat to financial stability and requires licensed platforms to run anti-money laundering (AML) checks on every transaction.

Cryptocurrency under the new framework is permitted only for international trade, allowing Russian companies to pay foreign partners in digital assets "without excessive legislative and legal restrictions," according to Aksakov. The ruble remains Russia's sole legal tender for domestic goods and services, and domestic crypto payments stay prohibited. Major financial institutions are already positioning themselves: VTB and T-Bank have announced plans to build crypto depositories, and Alfa-Bank has tested crypto trading. Kaplan Panesh, deputy chair of the State Duma's Budget and Taxes Committee, endorsed the legislation as it moved through final readings.