Overview

• First Deputy Governor Vladimir Chistyukhin announced at the Finopolis forum that banks will be allowed to handle crypto under tight oversight.
• The framework caps each bank’s cryptocurrency exposure at about 1% of capital and imposes higher reserve requirements to contain risk.
• Participants must comply with full anti–money‑laundering controls, including verified client identities and transparent transaction flows.
• Officials point to broad uptake, citing about 20 million Russian users and 827 billion rubles held on exchange wallets as of end‑March 2025.
• The move builds on a 2025 experimental regime for cross‑border use by qualified entities, with next steps including a central bank survey in early 2026 and a push for a comprehensive crypto law.