Key Takeaways
Russia will require individuals to use licensed brokers or registered exchanges for P2P digital asset trading from July 1, 2027.
Transfers from regulated digital asset accounts to personal non-custodial wallets will be restricted under the new framework.
Non-qualified investors face a 300,000-ruble annual purchase limit per intermediary and must pass a knowledge test.
How Russia’s New Digital Asset Restrictions Work
Russia’s central bank is tightening control over the country’s digital asset market with new rules that restrict how people trade, transfer, and store digital assets. Under the new framework, the following activities will be prohibited or restricted:
Peer-to-peer trading: Direct transactions between individuals must go through licensed brokers or registered exchanges from July 1, 2027.
Transfers to self-custody wallets: Moving digital assets from regulated accounts to personal, non-custodial wallets will be prohibited.
Transfers between certain regulated accounts: Specific transactions between individuals through addresses managed by regulated digital depositories will be restricted.
Purchases by non-qualified investors: Annual digital asset purchases will be capped at 300,000 rubles per intermediary, and buyers must pass a knowledge test.
Digital asset payments: Using bitcoin and other digital assets to pay for goods and services in Russia remains prohibited.
Peer-to-peer Transfers
Russia will ban direct peer-to-peer (P2P) digital asset trading between individuals from July 1, 2027. Under the new rules, people will have to buy and sell bitcoin through licensed brokers or registered exchanges approved by the Bank of Russia.
The central bank explained the rules in guidance published on October 12, clarifying how Federal Law No. 282-FZ will affect digital asset trading. The law took effect on September 1, 2026, as Russia moves to bring more of its digital asset market under government supervision.
The new rules do not ban bitcoin or digital asset ownership entirely. However, they will limit how Russians can trade or store their assets and move them between wallets.
P2P trading allows people to buy and sell bitcoin directly with one another without using a traditional exchange as an intermediary. For example, a buyer might send rubles directly to a seller’s bank account and receive bitcoin or USDT in return.
Q&A regarding new regulations — cbr.ru
This method has remained popular in Russia, particularly after major international exchange platforms withdrew from the market.
Under the new rules, Russians can continue trading bitcoin directly with other individuals until June 30, 2027. Starting July 1, 2027, these transactions must go through authorized intermediaries.
Use of Non-Custodial Wallets
Another major issue targeted by the new regulations is the use of non-custodial wallets, which allow users to control their own private keys rather than relying on an exchange or another company to hold their digital assets.
Examples include hardware wallets like Ledger and Trezor, as well as software wallets such as Blue Wallet, MetaMask and Trust Wallet.
According to the central bank, people cannot withdraw bitcoin or other digital assets from a regulated digital account to their own non-custodial wallet, even if both accounts belong to the same person.
Q&A about use of self-custody wallets — cbr.ru
The rules also prohibit certain transfers between individuals through addresses managed by regulated digital asset depositories.
These restrictions are separate from the P2P trading ban scheduled for July 2027. They focus on how digital assets can be transferred from regulated accounts and between users within the system.
Q&A about transfer of digital assets within repositories — cbr.ru
The rules do not ban owning a personal wallet outright. However, they limit the ways users can move funds between regulated services and wallets they control themselves.
Russians will still be able to buy bitcoin and other approved digital assets only through authorized providers, but some investors will face restrictions.
Who Can Buy Digital Assets?
Non-qualified investors must pass a knowledge test before buying digital assets. Their purchases will be limited to 300,000 rubles (~3,600 USD) per year through each intermediary.
Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Tether (USDT) are among the digital assets available to this group under the new framework. Qualified investors must also pass the required test but will not face the same annual purchase limit.
These rules are designed to heavily regulate digital asset trading, giving financial institutions the ability to monitor transactions and maintain records. Russian banks and financial institutions are preparing to provide services under the new rules.
Sberbank, Russia’s largest lender, has received approval to operate as a digital asset exchange provider and plans to launch its first digital asset products on December 1, 2026.
VTB is also among the institutions involved in the regulated market. Meanwhile, Moscow Exchange is preparing to introduce digital asset trading services and has been testing its operations with professional market participants.
The Bank of Russia has registered more than 10 organizations to provide digital asset exchange or custody services. These include major banks and smaller related companies.
Under the new system, exchanges will handle buying and selling, while digital depositories will record customers’ digital asset holdings and manage the addresses linked to their accounts.
Using Bitcoin for Purchasing Goods and Services
The new rules also maintain Russia’s ban on using bitcoin and digital assets to pay for goods and services within the country. However, businesses involved in imports and exports can use digital assets for international settlements under a separate framework.
Outlook and Enforcement
Russia’s new regulations will make it harder for ordinary users to trade bitcoin directly or move assets from regulated accounts into personal wallets. The government expects more transactions to pass through licensed intermediaries, giving authorities greater oversight of the market.
However, enforcement remains a key question. Private wallets and overseas platforms can make it difficult for authorities to identify every direct transaction between individuals.
