Russia makes tax IDs mandatory for crypto depository accounts

Rosfinmonitoring sets stricter ID checks

The requirement was outlined in comments on Sept. 9 by Vlada Gracheva, an adviser to the director of Rosfinmonitoring. She said the INN will become a mandatory identifier for clients of Russian digital depositories as part of the customer identification process.

According to Gracheva, the measure is specifically tied to anti-money laundering oversight. She said the tax number is being made compulsory in order to ensure greater transparency for cryptocurrency transactions.

In Russia, an individual INN has 12 digits and remains with a taxpayer even if their address, surname or passport details change. That makes it a stable identifier for compliance checks compared with other personal information that may be updated over time.

Higher-value transfers face broader reporting

The new identification regime goes beyond account opening. For crypto transactions above 60,000 rubles, covered entities must collect and transmit more detailed information about both the payer and the recipient.

For individual payers, that information can include a full name, digital account number or wallet identifier, residential or registered address, date of birth and taxpayer number where applicable. For individual recipients, the required data can include a full name, digital account or address identifier, country and city of residence and an INN where available.

Smaller transactions of 60,000 rubles or less are subject to a narrower set of information requirements, including names and digital account numbers or address identifiers. But if an institution suspects that a lower-value transfer may involve money laundering or terrorist financing, the more extensive identification rules still apply.

Part of Russia’s new crypto framework

The rule arrives just after Russia’s regulated crypto market formally opened on Sept. 1 under the country’s first broad framework for cryptocurrency trading, custody and certain cross-border settlements. President Vladimir Putin signed the law behind the system on Aug. 4, and its core provisions took effect at the start of September.

Under the updated anti-money laundering rules, digital depositories and operators of information systems that issue digital financial assets are barred from opening digital accounts for anonymous clients or for people using fictitious names. Rosfinmonitoring also gained new oversight powers covering cryptocurrency transactions.

The wider framework brings exchanges, brokers, digital depositories and other intermediaries into a supervised domestic market. Non-qualified investors must pass a knowledge test and may buy up to 300,000 rubles of eligible cryptocurrencies per year through each intermediary, while qualified investors must also be tested but are not subject to the same annual cap.

Broader infrastructure is still being built

The Bank of Russia had already proposed detailed rules in July for depositories and exchanges, including standards for digital currency accounts, registration and capital. It has also proposed Bitcoin, Ether and USDT as assets that could qualify for organized trading under criteria linked to market capitalization, liquidity and foreign trading history.

Cryptocurrency remains banned as a payment method for ordinary goods and services inside Russia, although the new framework allows its use in certain cross-border settlements. Existing crypto service providers have a transition period and must complete registration by July 1, 2027.

Large financial groups are preparing services under the regime. Sberbank has said it plans to launch crypto trading, custody and settlement infrastructure, along with a digital depository, by Dec. 1, but it has not yet disclosed which assets it will offer or the service’s customer eligibility rules, fees or withdrawal terms.

What comes next

Russia is also developing a separate mechanism that would link taxpayer numbers with bank accounts as part of preparations for the Bank of Russia’s Antidrop platform, which is scheduled to launch in 2027. That system is intended to help identify accounts used by money mules in illicit fund transfers.

For now, crypto depositories are moving ahead under tighter identification standards than conventional banking. Further provisions affecting some transfer restrictions and nonresident digital depositories are scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2027, as the country continues to build out the compliance and market infrastructure around its regulated crypto sector.