Bank of Russia drafts first rules for licensed crypto trading venues
Moscow's central bank proposes equity thresholds and digital depositories for organised digital-asset markets, extending its post-sanctions crypto framework.
The Bank of Russia has published draft rules that would, for the first time, define how “organised” trading of digital assets could operate through supervised venues, alongside proposed equity requirements for operators and provisions for dedicated digital depositories. The measure remains a consultation draft and has not yet taken effect, according to the regulator’s published materials.
A supervised perimeter for digital asset markets
The draft distinguishes “organised trading” — activity conducted through a formal, licensed marketplace — from informal peer-to-peer dealing, which currently accounts for much of Russia’s domestic crypto activity. Under the proposal, eligible platforms would need to meet admission standards for assets as well as compliance and disclosure obligations for participants, mechanics that typically separate a regulated market from an unregulated one.
The Block reported that the draft also sets out equity requirements for prospective trading operators and provisions for digital depositories to hold and settle assets within the regulated perimeter, features that would bring venue-based crypto trading closer to the structure of Russia’s existing securities markets.
Neither the exact list of eligible operators nor the criteria for admitting specific digital assets to organised trading has been finalised. The Bank of Russia’s own materials indicate that enforcement mechanics, ongoing supervisory obligations for venues, and eligibility questions remain open pending consultation and revision.
Part of a wider regulatory build-out
The proposal extends a pattern of incremental rule-making by Russia’s central bank, which has previously floated treating crypto activity more like banking business, introducing real-name identification requirements, and tightening oversight of capital flows linked to digital assets. Earlier drafts have also addressed cryptocurrency investment rules, setting out who could participate in crypto investing and under what conditions.
Coincu noted that the central bank has been “steadily building out the legal scaffolding for digital assets” through a succession of such proposals, of which the organised-trading draft is the latest instalment rather than a standalone initiative.
Why the framework matters
A formal trading regime, if adopted, could channel activity currently conducted outside dedicated oversight into licensed venues subject to admission and conduct rules — a shift that regulators generally argue improves transparency and investor protection. It could also shape institutional participation, since firms typically require a defined legal and compliance perimeter before engaging with a market.
For European and UK observers, the initiative offers a point of comparison with the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, which similarly sets licensing, capital and custody standards for crypto trading platforms, though under a very different geopolitical and sanctions backdrop. Whether Russia’s draft proceeds to formal adoption, and in what final form, depends on further consultation that the central bank has not yet scheduled.
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