Putin Signs Crypto Law With 300,000-Ruble Cap, Citing Bitcoin 'No Ban' View

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed Federal Law No. 282-FZ, the first comprehensive statute to regulate cryptocurrency, including Bitcoin (BTC), and digital rights in Russia, with core provisions taking effect on September 1, 2026. The law places exchange and custody operations under a state register and gives the Bank of Russia authority to supervise the market. It preserves the ban on using crypto as a domestic payment tool, while setting legal conditions for trading, holding, and professional services. Only entities listed in the register may conduct exchange or conversion activity, and applicants must maintain at least 15 million rubles in own capital and join a financial-market self-regulatory organization. The statute defines covered exchange activity as organized dealing in a firm's own name and for its own account when monthly transactions include at least two trades and exceed 3.5 million rubles in total. Existing operators may continue during a transition period, while crypto holders gain judicial protection regardless of whether their tax filings are complete. The payment restriction also reaches promotion: businesses may not advertise goods, services, or intellectual property as purchasable with digital assets. Four statutory exceptions remain. Residents and non-residents may settle foreign-trade contracts in crypto, miners may use coins they produce, information-system fees may be paid where rules allow, and settlements involving securities, other crypto tokens, or digital rights are permitted. Transfer restrictions and rules for non-resident digital depository services are scheduled for July 1, 2027, while digital financial asset issuance provisions phase in through September 1, 2027. The law does not grant legal-tender status to any token and leaves the domestic retail-payment ban intact. For market participants, the central question will be how the central bank implements the register, how altcoin listings are assessed for liquidity, and whether custody platforms, including services associated with an AI crypto wallet, fall under the same licensing perimeter.

The same statute creates a controlled retail channel, allowing ordinary investors to buy highly liquid crypto through qualified intermediaries while capping annual purchases at 300,000 rubles, about $3,700 per intermediary. The official text names exchanges, custodians, brokers, clearing institutions, and investors as regulated market participants, the first time these roles have been defined together in Russian law. Professional investors face no monetary ceiling and may access every permitted asset, but every buyer must pass a suitability test before trading. Retail users can seek professional status by showing a record of prior crypto transactions, though the official list of high-liquidity assets has not yet been published. The text does not specify how automated tools such as an AI trading bot would be treated under the intermediary regime. This omission matters because the cap applies only to approved instruments, and regulators have not said whether assets trading near an all-time-high or newly issued tokens would qualify. The law also keeps crypto outside the domestic payments system, denying it legal-tender status, but preserves cross-border trade settlement as a sanctioned exception. That provision continues a policy introduced from 2024, when companies were allowed to use digital assets in foreign trade to reduce the impact of Western financial restrictions. On the infrastructure side, exchanges must enter the state register, hold 15 million rubles in own capital, roughly $185,000, and join a self-regulatory body. The bill advanced after an April first reading and State Duma passage last month before receiving Putin's signature. Separate regulatory tracks are moving at the same time. The central bank recently released a draft regime for organized trading of digital assets and digital rights, covering exchanges and custodians. The government also issued an order banning mining and mining-pool participation in Moscow, the Moscow region, and parts of Kursk from August 15 through 2032. The result is a framework that legalizes licensed trading and limited retail exposure, while restricting payments, mining geography, and issuer rules through later phases.

COINOTAG's reading is that Federal Law No. 282-FZ converts Russia's prior tolerance into a licensed market rather than a prohibition. The final rule, published as a federal statute rather than a draft, binds exchange operators, custodians, banks, and investors from September 1, 2026, with selected provisions delayed to 2027. It legalizes holding and regulated trading, keeps domestic payments barred, and preserves cross-border settlement as the main monetary-use channel. The arc runs from Putin's 2024 framing — 'who can ban it, no one can' — to a registered market that accepts crypto while controlling its retail, payment, and mining boundaries.