Russia’s State Duma to hold final readings on crypto market bill

Russia’s State Duma is due to hold the second and third readings on July 21 of bill No. 1194918-8, “On Digital Currency and Digital Rights,” in what would be the lower house’s final votes on the country’s first comprehensive cryptocurrency law. Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, said both readings are expected to pass. If approved, the measure would still need Federation Council approval and President Vladimir Putin’s signature. The bill is designed to create a legal framework for cryptocurrency use in Russia while preserving the ban on using digital assets to pay for goods and services domestically. It would instead explicitly allow crypto for international trade, offering Russian companies a regulated route for cross-border settlements, and it would establish a licensing regime for exchanges, brokers and custodians under Bank of Russia supervision. Retail access would remain tightly controlled. Cryptocurrencies eligible for legal trading in Russia would need a market capitalization above 5 trillion rubles, roughly $65 billion, and at least five years of verified trading history on a licensed foreign exchange, a threshold that currently limits the field to Bitcoin and Ethereum. Non-qualified investors would face an annual purchase cap of 300,000 rubles, or about $3,800, through a single licensed intermediary, while privacy coins such as Monero, Zcash and Dash would be excluded under anti-money laundering rules. Major financial institutions including VTB and T-Bank have already said they plan to build crypto depositories, and unlicensed platforms would face a full ban starting July 1, 2027.