Russia's State Duma passes the digital currency bill in the first reading, with the central bank controlling market access and transaction regulation

Odaily Planet Daily News: The Russian State Duma (the lower house of parliament) has passed the “Digital Currency and Digital Rights Bill” in its first reading, marking a key step toward legalizing the country’s crypto assets. Under the bill, the Bank of Russia will become the core regulatory authority for the crypto market, responsible for issuing licenses, approving or banning related transactions, and defining the legality of such transactions.

The bill plans to recognize cryptocurrencies as “property,” but it clearly prohibits their use domestically as a means of payment, with the ruble remaining the only legal tender. However, against the backdrop of Western sanctions, crypto assets can be used for cross-border trade settlements, including service payments, transfers of intellectual property rights, and other scenarios.

In addition, the bill allows Russian residents to legally invest in crypto assets through licensed institutions, but it will implement a tiered investor system, applying tests and annual investment limit restrictions to ordinary investors (the recommended upper limit is 300,000 rubles). In the initial stage, only trading of mainstream assets with high market caps, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, will be allowed, and the central bank will develop a whitelist.

The bill is expected to be formally approved and take effect no later than July 2026. However, some lawmakers and banking industry professionals have criticized the regulation as being too strict, which may affect market activity and even lead to funds continuing to remain in the gray market. At the same time, the supporting legislation also plans to introduce criminal penalties, with illegal crypto transactions punishable by up to 7 years in prison. (Cryptopolitan)