Russia’s Central Bank and Ministry of Finance are exploring the launch of digital currency trading under an experimental legal framework. Participation will be limited to highly qualified investors, with specific eligibility criteria still being determined, according to Alexei Yakovlev, Director of the Financial Policy Department at the Ministry of Finance.
He noted that the idea is still in its early stages and requires extensive refinement. Yakovlev clarified that the “super-qualified” investor category is primarily aimed at professional market participants and individuals, though strict qualification criteria will be set. Currently, the asset requirement for qualified investors stands at 12 million rubles, with an increase to 24 million rubles planned for 2026.
“An experimental legal regime, super-qualified investors, and comprehensive risk mitigation — if all three conditions align, we may develop a proposal and present it on the government’s platform,” Yakovlev said.
In July 2024, the State Duma passed a law initiating an experiment to establish a platform in Russia for using cryptocurrencies in international transactions. The proposal also included the possibility of exchange trading for virtual currencies, though legal experts anticipated that access would be restricted to legal entities and individual entrepreneurs.
According to Oleg Kalmanovich, chief analyst at Neomarkets, the initiative to introduce digital currency trading in Russia — even for a limited group of super-qualified investors — is not necessarily doomed to fail but will be highly challenging to implement.
Firstly, contradictions will emerge during the drafting of the bill, including questions about which participants will be allowed to trade, what risks investors will bear independently, and which the state will assume on their behalf. Additionally, determining which cryptocurrencies will be permitted for trading and the criteria for their selection will be key challenges.
Secondly, if the initiative involves global cryptocurrencies, the state will be unable to provide guarantees — such as access to centralized or decentralized crypto exchanges — since these platforms operate outside the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation, the expert emphasizes.
“This is crucial because crypto exchange administrators have the exclusive authority to block wallets—and they exercise this right,” Oleg Kalmanovich points out. “This was evident in the spring of 2022 when thousands of Russian crypto wallets were frozen due to sanctions pressure.”