Russia Sanctions Risk Tainted Crypto Market at Discount, Finam Says
Finam CEO warns Russia's legalized crypto market could trade tainted assets at a discount to global prices due to sanctions isolation.
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Western sanctions are likely to turn Russia into a market for tainted cryptocurrency that trades at a discount to global prices, according to the chairman of one of the country's largest financial groups.
Vladislav Kochetkov, who leads the management board of Finam, told Russia's state-run TASS news agency on Thursday that the country's coming legalisation of digital assets could create an isolated price circuit. "Sanctions could lead to Russia becoming a market for 'tainted' cryptocurrencies, that is, assets that have passed through restricted addresses or platforms and are therefore toxic to international counterparties," he said. The result, he added, would be "a separate, isolated price circuit, operating by its own rules" with a "significant discount" to international benchmarks.
Russia adopted its first comprehensive crypto law, "On Digital Currency and Digital Rights," in July. President Vladimir Putin signed the nearly 300-page bill in early August, and its main provisions take effect on September 1, 2026. The regulatory framework lets banks and brokers enter the crypto space under existing licences. It also creates a licensing regime for crypto-specific platforms and a new category of participant called "digital depositories" to handle custody and accounting. Domestic transactions will require an authorised intermediary.
Finam plans to participate as both a broker and an exchange, Kochetkov said. The firm was among the first Russian companies to offer crypto derivatives to qualified investors after the Central Bank of Russia allowed it in May 2025, alongside Sberbank and MOEX. Whether Finam will set up its own depository remains undecided. "The reason is purely economic: it's expensive," Kochetkov said, noting that such an investment would cost at least 3 billion rubles ($35 million) and take eight years to pay back.
The law opens the door for non-professional investors to buy digital assets for the first time, but only the most liquid coins: Bitcoin and Ethereum, plus Tether's USDT. Annual investments per intermediary will be capped at less than $4,000. Kochetkov described the Russian market as "primarily speculative" and built on "rigid architecture, unusual for cryptocurrency" but said it would be "fully functional and liquid."
The new rules take effect on September 1, 2026.
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