The State Duma considers a bill to combat crypto fraud while legalizing international settlements, a move that could expand sanctioned trade via digital currencies.
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Russia's State Duma is set to vote this week on a bill targeting crypto fraud, a move that lawmakers say will also open a legal path for digital currencies in international settlements.
Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, said the legislation focuses on “combating the illegal use of cryptocurrencies within our country,” according to the Tass news agency. The bill will go through its second and third readings this week. Aksakov added that lawmakers aim to provide “an opportunity for those who use cryptocurrencies for international transactions to do so within the legal framework.”
Using crypto as a form of payment has been illegal in Russia since 2022. A 2023 bill already legalized digital currency for international payments, a move that likely helped the country work around sanctions imposed by the U.S. and European governments after the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The new fraud bill adds a compliance layer to that framework, signaling Moscow's intent to build a sanctioned-proof financial channel while clamping down on domestic scams that could undermine the system.
President Vladimir Putin signed a law last year allowing licensed crypto mining, opening the door for legal entities approved by the digital ministry. Foreign firms remain barred from the sector. Russian banks are planning to launch crypto trading services once the new rules take effect, and lawmakers have said investors will need to pass a test before they can buy digital assets, with limits on purchase amounts.
Putin has spoken positively about Bitcoin in the past. At a Moscow forum in December 2024, he said during a discussion on dollar dominance that new technologies were changing how money moves. "For example, Bitcoin, who can ban it? Nobody," he said. "And who can prohibit the use of other electronic payment instruments? Nobody, because these are new technologies."
For Western regulators and exchanges, the bill's dual purpose – fraud prevention and sanctions facilitation – creates a compliance headache. If Russian banks begin offering crypto trading, global platforms may face pressure to block or monitor flows from Russian entities. The fraud component, meanwhile, suggests Russia wants to legitimize crypto to attract institutional participation and reduce the reputation risk of scams. The Duma's vote this week will set the timeline for how quickly those rules take effect.
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