The Bank of Russia has described cryptocurrency as a financial market risk, saying wider use of stablecoins and other digital assets could encourage households to treat privately issued instruments as substitutes for the ruble. In its review, the central bank warned that such assets can expose investors to a total loss of funds and may also be used in illegal activity.
The warning comes as Russia rolls out a regulated framework for crypto intermediaries. At the same time, the central bank is pushing for tougher penalties against operators that work outside that system and expanding transaction monitoring across the newly licensed market.
Why the central bank is concerned
The regulator said digital currencies differ from traditional financial instruments because so-called money surrogates may not have an obligated counterparty or underlying collateral. If the value of an asset collapses, investors may have no clear party against which to make a claim.
The Bank of Russia highlighted stablecoins in particular, arguing that growing household use of such assets could reduce reliance on the national currency. It also said some cryptocurrencies pose added risks because transactions can be conducted through decentralized networks with varying degrees of anonymity.
According to the central bank, those features raise the likelihood that digital currencies will be used for illegal purposes. It also noted that the cross-border nature of crypto markets can weaken restrictions imposed by any single country, especially as jurisdictions continue to take different approaches to regulation.
Push to keep crypto inside the licensed market
The central bank said cryptocurrency activity should remain within the licensed market created under Russia’s new legal framework. It has called for criminal liability for operators that organize digital currency circulation without regulatory authorization, while licensed participants that break the rules should face administrative penalties.
Russia had already put in place a licensing structure for crypto intermediaries before the latest warning. Draft rules published in July set requirements for cryptocurrency exchanges and digital depositories, including central bank oversight, capital requirements for depositories, and official registers of licensed market participants.
The underlying digital asset law was signed by President Vladimir Putin on Aug. 4 after approval by the State Duma in July. The law opened regulated access for retail and qualified investors, but kept the ban on using cryptocurrency to pay for goods and services inside Russia.
Trading limits and permitted uses
Before the market opened, the Bank of Russia proposed Bitcoin, Ether and USDT for trading on regulated exchanges. Under that proposal, non-qualified investors would be limited to annual purchases of 300,000 rubles through each intermediary, while qualified investors could trade eligible cryptocurrencies without the same cap if they meet the required conditions.
Even with domestic crypto payments still prohibited, Russia continues to allow cryptocurrency to be used for certain cross-border transactions. That leaves the country in a position where regulated investment and some external settlement activity are permitted, while internal payments remain restricted.
Monitoring and enforcement are expanding
Financial monitoring is being built into the framework alongside licensing. Rosfinmonitoring has received authority to oversee cryptocurrency transactions under the legislation on digital currencies and digital rights, and identity rules for digital depositories have been tightened.
Clients opening accounts with Russian digital depositories will have to provide their taxpayer identification number, or INN, a measure authorities say will make transactions easier to link to specific market participants. Transactions above 60,000 rubles are also subject to detailed information requirements for both payer and recipient.
The Bank of Russia has already been using those tools more aggressively. In August it blacklisted 2,600 crypto wallets tied to suspected illegal financial activity after more than 1 billion rubles flowed into those addresses in the first half of 2026. During the same period, the regulator identified 929 entities with signs of pyramid activity and 379 suspected of illegally attracting investments, with more than 74% of the pyramid schemes using cryptocurrencies to draw in funds.
Next step under the new framework
The central bank’s latest position suggests that enforcement will be a key test of Russia’s crypto regime. Authorities are not only setting operating rules for exchanges and depositories, but also pairing that system with stricter liability proposals, transaction tracing, and anti-money laundering controls.
Recent complaints have also pointed to risks in the market’s gray areas, including so-called crypto loans denominated in USDT or in rubles converted at a set exchange rate. Authorities have responded by blocking some related websites and sharing information on flagged wallets with banks and law enforcement, indicating that supervision of the sector is likely to remain a central focus as the licensed market develops.
Source: crypto.news