What will change for businesses/traders and others?
— When and exactly how will cryptocurrency trading in Russia change—for businesses earning from cryptocurrencies, for crypto traders, and for Russians who rarely interact with crypto (e.g., for paying for overseas purchases)?
— For traders and businesses, specific provisions of the law take effect on September 1. In particular, this includes the obligation to report to tax authorities on fund movements involving foreign wallets. Important: the frequency of such reports, as well as the overall procedure, will be determined by the government in the near future. These could be annual reports, similar to those for foreign bank accounts, or more frequent submissions.
Starting September 1, it will be fully legal for participants in foreign economic activity to accept cryptocurrency for goods, works, or services in international trade transactions. Currently, some participants engage in this practice at their own risk due to the restriction imposed by the "Digital Currency" law (paragraph 5 of Article 14). As of the effective date of the new law, foreign economic activity will be exempted from this basic prohibition.
For Russians who rarely interact with crypto, significant changes will occur on July 1, 2027, when the fully licensed Russian crypto circuit launches. From that date, Russians will no longer need to go abroad or use gray (and from that date, black) exchanges to buy crypto.
How to interact with foreign services
— How should Russians now interact with foreign cryptocurrency exchanges, crypto asset custody services, and other foreign crypto services, including bets on Polymarket?
Globally, nothing changes: if you already own cryptocurrency or have foreign bank accounts, you can continue trading cryptocurrency through foreign channels. The main restriction is converting from the Russian financial system (non-cash ruble) to cryptocurrency. Starting July 1, 2027, such transactions may be conducted ONLY through licensed Russian intermediaries.
After purchasing crypto in Russia, users can withdraw it to their foreign wallets: first to a custodial wallet, such as an exchange wallet in a friendly jurisdiction, and then, if needed, to any of their non-custodial wallets. There are no prohibitions on such transfers, but the Central Bank may impose restrictions, for example, on amounts.
Beyond this, there are no further restrictions, but you must remember to report fund movements to the tax authority.
What if crypto investors go underground?
— How do you assess the likelihood that most Russians will simply ignore the proposed legal infrastructure and continue to freely interact with foreign platforms, withdrawing crypto into rubles through semi-legal schemes?
— Certainly, such a possibility remains, just as there is a shadow market for drugs and black-market schemes for purchasing crypto.
At the same time, we are already receiving a significant number of inquiries from market participants who wish to preserve their operations by ensuring full compliance with evolving regulations and understanding the necessary steps to obtain legal status after the new regulatory framework fully takes effect. Based on this, we expect a substantial number of current market participants to obtain exchange licenses in some form during the second half of next year and continue operating fully legally in Russia.
How best to prepare for changes
What should Russians who want to continue trading cryptocurrency do?
— Russians who wish to actively trade crypto in the new environment must obtain the status of a qualified investor to trade without restrictions. However, it is important that before obtaining this status, each individual must assess their maturity and readiness to face the risks associated with trading high-risk instruments.
If a person is willing to take on the risks themselves, one of the simplest ways to qualify as a qualified investor is to trade securities with a total value of 6 million rubles over six months, with at least ten transactions per quarter and one transaction per month. Those interested can begin such trading today to obtain qualified investor status before all provisions of the bill come into effect. I want to emphasize again: this should only be done by those who are fully prepared to take responsibility for their actions, including the risk of losing all their funds through trading.
Rosfinmonitoring will gain the authority to monitor all cryptocurrency transactions.
Russians will face restrictions on purchasing stablecoins
Russians are going to be imprisoned for illegal crypto trading