Russia's crypto industry may legally operate by end of 2026

Russia's crypto industry may have the regulatory framework needed to start operating legally by the end of 2026, according to reports. Central bank deputy governor Vladimir Chistyukhin said regulations were moving ahead as scheduled. He said Russia was creating extensive subordinate regulations and that internal rules could be fine-tuned before the end of 2026. This year, Russia has advanced crypto legislation, and President Vladimir Putin signed a law in August establishing regulation for digital currencies and digital rights. Using bitcoin for payments remains banned. Russia's central bank has approved public bitcoin trading on the country's crypto exchanges. The reported rules allow unqualified investors to buy 300,000 rubles ($3,582) of bitcoin and other assets through one intermediary, while qualified investors have no limits. Sberbank, Russia's biggest bank, plans to launch a bitcoin and crypto wallet and digital-asset custody by December. The bank said in August that it expected trading volume from the rollout to reach 4 trillion rubles ($47 bln) in its first year. Using digital assets as a means of payment or legal tender in Russia has been prohibited since 2022. Russian lawmakers have made an exception for international payments, reportedly most likely to evade Western sanctions. The United States and European governments cut Russia off from the SWIFT payments system after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Russia's finance minister said Russian companies have been using bitcoin to evade the resulting penalties.