Bank of Russia Signals Shift Toward Broader Crypto Access
Russia’s approach to crypto regulation may be entering a more pragmatic phase. According to Bloomberg, the Bank of Russia is drafting a new regulatory framework that could relax investor qualification requirements, opening the door for a wider group of participants to legally access crypto assets.
Until now, Russia’s crypto market has been tightly restricted. Only “high-qualified” investors were allowed to participate—those holding at least 100 million rubles in deposits or securities and proving annual income above 50 million rubles. This effectively shut out most retail investors and limited onshore crypto activity.
Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov has indicated that the Ministry of Finance and the central bank are now aligned on easing these rules. The proposed direction is a tiered access system, where investors with different risk profiles gain different levels of market access, rather than a single, extremely high entry threshold.
The shift reflects a broader reality: outright exclusion hasn’t eliminated crypto demand—it has only pushed it offshore or into gray markets. By expanding the pool of “legitimate” investors under controlled conditions, regulators may gain better oversight while keeping capital and activity within the formal financial system.
If implemented, this would mark a meaningful recalibration of Russia’s crypto stance—less about blanket restriction, more about managed participation.