Russia Pushes Crypto Law to Sept 1, First Trades by Early 2027

Russia’s cryptocurrency bill missed its July 1 deadline and will now enter into force on September 1, 2026 – roughly two months behind the original schedule. Additional regulations needed to make crypto transactions fully legal are expected by November, and the first regulated operations should begin in early 2027, according to local media and central bank officials.

The delay stems from “protracted approvals with government agencies,” Anatoly Aksakov, chair of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, told the business daily Kommersant on Friday. The second and third readings of Bill No. 1194918-8 “On Digital Currency and Digital Rights” are tentatively set for July 21. After that, the legislation needs a positive vote from the Federation Council and President Putin’s signature – a process that typically takes another two weeks, the newspaper noted.

The law is built on a regulatory concept the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) released in December 2025. It classifies cryptocurrencies as “monetary assets” and requires all transactions to go through licensed intermediaries – exchanges, brokers, trustees, and depositories registered with the CBR. Non-qualified investors will be allowed to buy digital assets but face an annual cap of 300,000 rubles (roughly $4,000 at current rates).

A separate provision being debated would let Russian investors withdraw up to 100,000 rubles ($1,300) worth of coins to non-custodial wallets, according to Mikhail Uspensky, a member of the State Duma’s expert council on crypto regulation who spoke to Kommersant. Initially the draft law only permitted custodial storage through state-approved depositories.

Chistyukhin expects the first regulated crypto transactions to occur by early 2027, depending on how quickly market participants can launch specific products and services. Major players already licensed for financial operations are prepared to take that step, he added.

On Thursday, Igor Marich, a representative of the Moscow Exchange (MOEX), said the exchange plans to start cryptocurrency operations by the end of this year, Interfax reported. Meanwhile, two leading banks – VTB and T-Bank – announced they intend to create depositories for digital assets, according to the business news portal RBC. Several financial institutions have been offering crypto derivatives to clients since the CBR authorized them in May 2025.

Pressured by Western sanctions, Russia has softened its earlier conservative stance on decentralized digital money over the past year. Still, it lags behind other post-Soviet states such as Belarus and Kazakhstan in regulatory clarity. The CBR is currently in dialogue with its Belarusian counterpart to keep Russian access to Belarus’s crypto infrastructure.

For traders watching the Russian market, the delay is procedural rather than a sign of retreat. The timeline – September 1 for the law, November for the regulations, early 2027 for first trades – is consistent with what sources outlined months ago. The yearly purchase cap and the push for licensed intermediaries suggest the CBR wants controlled, institution-led adoption. The open question is whether non-custodial withdrawals survive the final negotiations, because that will determine how much autonomy ordinary investors actually get. A block on self-custody would push activity toward foreign platforms or gray markets, undercutting the law’s goal of bringing the crypto economy inside Russia’s regulated system.