The Russian Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank Plan to launch a crypto exchange exclusively for highly qualified investors, local media reported on 23 April, which confirmed rumors from earlier in the year.
The exchange is intended to regulate digital assets activities and to facilitate its use in cross-border trade under a pilot legal framework. It will work within an experimental legal regime that has been established to enable foreign traders to arrange transactions via crypto.
The regime, in fact since September 2024, offers a tightly controlled environment for digital assets experiments without being able to legalize Crypto payments within the domestic economy of Russia.
Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov outlined the initiative during a recent meeting of the Ministry of Directors, indicating that the government intends to create a in accordance with a channel for large-scale crypto transactions.
The effort aims to get crypto activity from informal markets and to place them under the supervision of the regulations.
Access limited to the financial elite of Russia
The eligible for the new platform will be limited to investors classified as ‘highly qualified’, a category with significant interests in securities or deposits of more than 100 million rubles, or with an annual income above 50 million rubles.
According to reports, civil servants can still be completed from the precise qualification criteria and ongoing discussions are expected to include the input of legislators.
Osman Kabaloev, a senior official at the Ministry of Finance, noted that the regulatory rules of investors are being assessed and that members of parliament have shown an interest in contributing to the framework. Authorities want to define clear standards and at the same time retain financial security and systemic integrity.
The Central Bank has previously submitted a proposal to enable this elite investor class to carry out crypto transactions within the legal experiment. However, it continues to resist the use of crypto for domestic payments outside this regime.
The supervisor has also recommended a ban on settlements of residents-to-resident using digital assets, in addition to fines for non-compliance.
Pilot to use existing infrastructure
VICE minister of finance Ivan Chebeskov has suggested that the current exchange infrastructure could support the upcoming crypto trade activity.
Authorities also consider new trading locations licensing, provided that they meet strict legal conditions. The pilot exchange is not expected to become operational for at least six months.
Currently, Russian citizens can own crypto, mine and exchange, but legal restrictions prevent them from using it for payments in the country. In the absence of a centralized national exchange, most crypto activity depends on foreign platforms, which entail extra legal and geopolitical risks.
The planned exchange marks a considerable shift in the approach from Russia to digital assets, which attempted to balance innovation in global trade with tight domestic limitations on the use of crypto.
