According to foreign media, a bill on encryption, which is in the final stages of consideration by the Russian State Duma, is incorporating digital assets into the formal regulatory framework. The policy orientation of the bill is clear, as it opens the door to the cross-border settlement of enterprises and as it continues to restrict the use and transfer of encrypted assets within the national territory.
Bill focuses on cross-border trade settlements
According to reports, the bill, entitled " On digital currency and digital rights ", was passed in April and the second and third readings were in July. If a vote is taken by the Duma, subsequent approval by the Federal Council is required and will be submitted to the President for signature.
One of the core elements of the bill is to allow Russian enterprises to use encrypted assets in foreign economic activities to settle with their foreign counterparts. According to reports citing the Act ' s promoters, this arrangement is primarily used to maintain external payment corridors in the current sanctions environment.
According to the current schedule, the main provisions are expected to enter into force on 1 September 2026. Non-licensed platforms are subject to a transitional period and are covered by regulation by July 2027 at the latest.
There are severe restrictions on the amount of the residents' transactions.
There are significantly more residential restrictions than the liberalization of the enterprise. The bill retains the ban on encrypted payments in Russia, and the rouble remains the only legal means of payment in the country, and residents cannot purchase goods and services directly from encrypted assets.
An annual limit of 300,000 roubles, or approximately $3800, for ordinary investors to buy encrypted assets through licensed intermediaries, and an annual limit of 100,000 roubles to transfer funds abroad. The amount of eligible investors is higher, with a maximum purchase of up to 3 million roubles and a maximum transfer of 1 million roubles.
It was also mentioned that ordinary investors were required to pass risk recognition tests prior to dealing, and that the range of accessible assets would also be concentrated in highly mobile varieties such as bitcoin, Ether and USDT.
The trading platform will be fully integrated into the licensing system
The bill requires intermediaries such as exchanges, brokers and trustees to obtain permission from the Russian Central Bank. Card-held platforms may also assume the function of tax agent by directly withholding income tax on encrypted transactions.
At the same time, point-to-point transactions will be gradually reduced and large transfers may be delayed for up to 48 hours in specific cases. According to the report, this means that Russia is gradually integrating encryption activities, which were already scattered outside the field and in grey channels, into a system that is traceable and taxable.
Foreign sources see policy objectives as biased towards national needs
According to the article, the focus of the system is not on expanding the freedom of investment of the population, but on two objectives: first, to preserve the ability of enterprises to pay across borders and, second, to reduce the space for capital flight by residents using encrypted assets.
Under this framework, enterprises are provided with more explicit cross-border means of settlement, and residents have access to encrypted assets only at a lower level. According to this report, the Russian bill is more like a programme of encrypted regulation designed around the sanctions environment, capital flows and the management of local currency.