Russia is racing to legalize crypto trading after years of resistance from the Bank of Russia, which had largely treated digital currencies as a threat.
The reversal comes as Western sanctions and a widening budget deficit leave the Kremlin searching for alternative financial channels and new taxable revenue, although officials haven't directly tied either pressure to the shift.
According to Bank of Russia documents reviewed exclusively by The Coinformer, an ordinary crypto custodian would need to hold at least $640,000 in capital under the proposal.
However, the minimum doubles to about $1.3 million if a custodian administers crypto addresses or holds an account with a foreign custodian. A settlement custodian, which moves assets after exchange trades, would need $3.2 million, per the regulatory document.
Bitcoin doesn't count
Custodians could meet the requirement with digital rubles, cash at sufficiently rated banks, precious metals, Russian stocks, bonds and certain Russian digital financial assets, issuer-controlled tokens representing monetary claims under domestic law rather than decentralized crypto such as Bitcoin.
The draft explicitly excludes cryptocurrencies, foreign digital instruments and investment funds permitted to hold crypto.
But banks are exempt from this crypto-specific calculation, although they remain subject to existing bank-capital rules.
Non-bank custodians would calculate capital monthly. They generally get two months to fix a shortfall, although the Bank of Russia may grant an extension of up to one year.
- A separate trading draft also requires exchanges to stop trading a token when its custodian reports that operations have been blocked.
- The proposals aren't final. The capital draft's main text says it takes effect 30 days after publication, while its explanatory note says 10.