Russia is moving forward with its digital asset regulation. Parliament has approved the Digital Currency and Digital Rights Act, which is intended to establish a complete legal framework for licensed encryption. According to the information in the text, the bill remains to be signed by the President and is expected to enter into force on 1 September 2026.
The bill covers five categories of licensees.
The new Act authorizes the Central Bank of Russia to issue licence plates for five types of encryption service providers, including exchanges, brokers, asset managers, trustees and encrypted exchangers. This means that Russia is integrating previously dispersed encryption into a unified regulatory system.
Existing institutions could continue to operate during the transition period and the transitional arrangements would continue until 1 July 2027. In the meantime, the exchange also has to meet capital requirements and join authorized self-regulatory organizations.
- Exchange minimum capital requirement 15 million roubles
- Transition period up to 1 July 2027
- The Act is expected to enter into force on 1 September 2026.
Domestic payments remain prohibited and cross-border trade allowed
The bill does not liberalize the use of encrypted assets in Russian domestic payments. In other words, encrypted currency is still not a daily means of payment in the country.
However, the bill explicitly allows for the use of encrypted assets in cross-border trade. This arrangement is in line with the direction that Russia has been promoting alternative settlement channels in recent years, particularly in the context of the continuing pressure on sanctions, where the importance of cross-border payment and chain settlement instruments is increasing.
XRP is in contact.
Before this law was formally implemented, XRP had appeared in Russia ' s regulated financial infrastructure. The article mentions that the digital financial asset system of the Moscow Exchange (MOEX) has provided compliance investment openings related to XRP.
Such products do not amount to direct ownership of XRP by investors, but rather to the acquisition of related asset exposure through regulated financial instruments. This approach is closer to traditional market operations and to existing compliance processes for institutional funding.
With the launch of the Russian licensed encryption market, institutions already operating within the MOEX digital financial asset system are theoretically easier to continue to increase the allocation of XRP through established channels. The article also notes that this does not mean that the XRP is accorded special legal status or that it is bound to be used more widely.
From a point of view of time, Russia, while advancing the digital asset infrastructure, opens the legal space for encryption in cross-border trade. For assets that have entered regulated channels, this change in regime may lead to earlier institutional exposure, where the XRP is in place.