Russia Starts Licensing Crypto Exchanges And Custodians Under New Register

Overview

The Bank of Russia's new regulated crypto-market framework has officially started operating, with major banks and specialist operators added to registers covering exchanges and digital depositories. This marks a significant shift in how Russia handles digital assets.

Key Players

The framework has admitted firms including VTB, Sberbank, and several specialist operators to registers covering cryptocurrency exchanges and digital depositories. Domestic crypto payments remain restricted, but regulated trading and custody infrastructure is taking shape.

Implications

The involvement of major banks is particularly notable. VTB has said it expects to begin opening crypto trading access through its investment business before expanding services further. This gives the market a distinctly different shape from jurisdictions where crypto infrastructure developed almost entirely through independent exchanges.

Regulatory Framework

The Bank of Russia laid out the admission process in September, setting requirements for managers, documentation, and ongoing registration. Those rules formally came into force on October 5. The result is not crypto liberalization in the conventional sense. It is crypto being pulled into a state-supervised framework.