Russia’s State Duma has moved crypto regulation toward its final legislative stage, advancing a bill that would establish formal rules for mining, exchanges, and cross-border settlement activity.
The bill, listed as No. 636524-8, is aimed at creating a statutory framework for parts of the digital asset sector that have already become active inside and around Russia’s economy. The measures include mandatory registries for industrial miners, licensing requirements for crypto exchanges, and legal treatment for certain cross-border settlement uses.
That makes the legislation important even for markets outside Russia.
Crypto regulation is increasingly becoming a matter of national payment strategy, energy policy, sanctions exposure, and institutional oversight. Russia’s approach reflects that wider trend: governments are no longer asking whether crypto exists. They are deciding how to control it.
Russia has been a major part of the crypto conversation for years, especially around mining and cross-border payments.
The country has access to energy resources, a technically skilled population, and strong incentives to explore alternative settlement channels. At the same time, it faces sanctions pressure and a complicated relationship with the global financial system.
That makes crypto regulation more than a domestic compliance question.
If Russia formalizes rules for mining and cross-border crypto settlement, it could affect exchange oversight, industrial power usage, institutional access, and international payment flows.
The bill appears to create a more structured environment rather than leaving activity in a grey zone.
For miners, mandatory registries could bring more oversight but also more legal clarity. For exchanges, licensing rules could define who is allowed to operate. For cross-border settlement, the law could give state-approved entities clearer permission to use digital assets in specific contexts.
Mining is one of the most important parts of Russia’s crypto policy debate.
Industrial mining consumes power, creates exportable digital assets, and can become a source of revenue. But it also raises questions around grid stability, taxation, regional energy use, and illegal operations.
A registry model gives the state more visibility.
That may help authorities separate approved industrial miners from informal or unauthorized activity. It can also create a route for taxation and compliance monitoring.
For the mining industry, the trade-off is familiar.
Regulation can add reporting burdens and costs, but it can also reduce uncertainty. Companies operating at scale often prefer a defined legal framework to constant ambiguity.
That is especially true when mining is connected to energy contracts, data centre infrastructure, and capital investment.
The cross-border settlement provisions are likely to attract the most international attention.
Digital assets can move across borders without relying on traditional correspondent banking rails. That makes them useful in some trade contexts, but also sensitive from a sanctions and compliance standpoint.
Russia’s interest in crypto settlement should be viewed through that lens.
A legal framework could allow certain companies or institutions to use digital assets in international trade under state-approved conditions. That would not mean all crypto payments become legal or unrestricted. It would mean Russia is creating a formal route for specific use cases.
The key is how narrow or broad those permissions become.
If the law is tightly controlled, it may mostly support selected trade channels. If it is broader, it could create a larger domestic market for crypto-linked settlement services.
Either way, the development is part of a global pattern. Countries are exploring how digital assets fit into payment systems, sanctions policy, and trade infrastructure.
It is important not to confuse regulation with openness.
A government can legalize certain crypto activities while still maintaining strict control. Licensing, registries, and approved settlement channels often mean more oversight, not less.
Russia’s bill appears to move crypto into a more formal state-supervised framework.
That may help compliant firms, but it may also limit unlicensed activity. Exchanges and miners could face clearer obligations, and cross-border settlement may be restricted to approved participants.
For markets, the important signal is that crypto continues to move into formal legal systems.
The early era of ignoring or banning digital assets is giving way to more detailed frameworks. Some are investor-focused. Some are enforcement-focused. Some are designed around national payment strategy.
Russia’s legislation fits the third category especially closely.
The final details will matter, but the direction is clear: the State Duma is moving crypto regulation deeper into law, and the result could shape how mining, exchanges, and settlement operate in one of the world’s most geopolitically sensitive markets.
This article is based on Russian State Duma legislative materials.
This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.
This report is based on information released in official primary source disclosures at primary source documentation.
Bitcoin Magazine
Russia Passes Landmark Crypto Law, Setting State-Run Rails for Sanctioned Trade
Russia’s State Duma passed a law on Tuesday that regulates the circulation of crypto and digital rights for the first time, a framework that sets rules for crypto exchanges, digital depositories, and investors while it opens a state-supervised channel for cross-border trade.
Lawmakers cleared bill No. 1194918-8, “On Digital Currency and Digital Rights,” in its second and third readings, the final stage in the chamber, according to semi-official Russian news agency Tass.
The measure heads to the Federation Council and to President Vladimir Putin for a signature, a process expected to take two more weeks before the law takes effect. It caps a sweeping regulatory push that has moved through parliament across the year.
The law does not turn bitcoin into money a Russian can spend at the store. The ruble stays the sole lawful currency for goods and services inside Russia, the ban on crypto payments holds, and a bar on advertising that promotes such use holds with it.
What the law does is grant crypto a legal identity and a set of gates. It recognizes digital assets as property, licenses the firms that handle them, lets investors buy within set limits, and clears crypto for use in foreign trade.
In plain terms, Russia is not freeing crypto for daily life; it is bringing crypto inside the state’s fence, where the government can watch it, tax it, and steer it toward the uses it wants.
Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the Duma Committee on Financial Markets, said the bill was “aimed at creating legal conditions for the functioning of cryptocurrencies in our country,” and that lawmakers had “maximally” weighed industry feedback.
From September 1, 2026, the Bank of Russia will license five categories of participant — exchanges, brokers, management companies, depositories, and exchangers — the spine of the new market.
Firms in a special registry may run exchange activity, with a grace period to July 1, 2027, before that requirement takes hold. Such firms must carry minimum capital of 15 million rubles, some $190,000, and must join a self-regulatory body.
The law defines exchange activity as the systematic purchase and sale of cryptocurrency for one’s own account outside organized trading, with “systematic” set at two or more deals in a month above 3.5 million rubles.
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The commercial heart of the law sits in the cross-border carve-out. The framework legalizes what gray-market networks did in the shadows: settlement of foreign trade in crypto, outside the dollar-and-euro banking system that Western sanctions target. It hands the practice the Bank of Russia’s stamp.
The same function ran through venues such as Garantex, which U.S. law enforcement shut down in March 2025, and through the ruble-pegged A7A5 stablecoin, a token that has moved tens of billions in sanctions-linked flows and that the U.K. has named in a sanctions round.
Moscow has pitched crypto trade as a route around sanctions for years; the new law builds it into formal infrastructure.
The turn is a sharp one. In January 2022, weeks before the invasion of Ukraine, the Bank of Russia proposed an outright ban on crypto transactions and mining, and cast digital assets as a threat to financial stability.
That stance held for as long as it took Western governments to cut Russian banks from SWIFT, a move that made trade in dollars and euros a harder task. Four years of infighting followed between a finance ministry that wanted crypto legal and a central bank that wanted it banned.
Putin signed an experimental law in August 2024 that permitted mining and international crypto payments; Tuesday’s bill is the permanent frame that replaces the trial.
For investors, the law splits the market in two. Non-qualified retail buyers may purchase up to 300,000 rubles of cryptocurrency, near $3,800, through a single licensed intermediary each year, and may send up to 100,000 rubles abroad.
Qualified investors face higher ceilings — up to 3 million rubles for purchases and 1 million rubles for foreign transfers. Both groups must pass a risk-awareness test, and qualified status can rest in part on prior crypto experience. Tax treatment is set to track the rules for securities, with rates to firm up as implementing regulations arrive. The tiered design follows earlier steps that opened bitcoin access to retail buyers.
The law leans on monitoring rather than disclosure of every wallet. Drafters dropped an earlier plan to require holders to reveal individual wallet addresses; reporting will center on transaction volumes and account balances.
Large transfers to foreign or third-party accounts face a 48-hour hold, a window for authorities to review funds before they clear.
Assets that clear strict thresholds may trade on organized venues — an average market cap above 5 trillion rubles over two years and average daily volume above 1 trillion rubles — limits expected to confine early trading to bitcoin and ether, with solana a possible third. Privacy coins that hide transaction data stay barred.
The main provisions take effect on September 1, 2026, with a transition period for existing operators that runs to March 1, 2027.
The passage marks another step in a run of Russian crypto moves, from a bid to make digital assets part of “everyday finance” to a crackdown on unregistered mining that carries the threat of forced labor.
This post Russia Passes Landmark Crypto Law, Setting State-Run Rails for Sanctioned Trade first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.
Bitcoin Magazine
Japan’s Landmark Vote Reclassifies Bitcoin And Crypto As Financial Assets
Japan’s parliament passed an amendment on Wednesday that reclassifies cryptocurrency as a “financial asset,” a shift that pulls bitcoin and other digital assets out of the country’s payments regime and into the framework that governs stocks, bonds, and investment trusts, according to a report from public broadcaster NHK.
The change strips crypto of its prior status under the Payment Services Act, where regulators treated it as a means of settlement, and folds it into the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA), the same statute that oversees traditional securities.
The amendment moves bitcoin and other crypto under a single investor-protection standard. NHK reports the change takes effect within a year, with a target of fiscal 2027.
Japan’s cabinet first approved this measure as a draft amendment in April 2026, but that step only sent the bill toward the Diet for debate. Wednesday’s vote marks the final enactment into law, alongside formal approval of a separate plan to cut the top tax rate on crypto gains from 55% to a flat 20% starting in 2028.
The move rewires how Japan supervises the asset class. As financial instruments, crypto assets now fall under insider-trading rules that bar issuers, exchange operators, and other parties with access to non-public information from trading ahead of events such as token listings, delistings, or major technical incidents.
Exchanges face new disclosure obligations. Platforms must publish data on each token’s issuer, blockchain design, and volatility profile, a standard that mirrors the reporting demands placed on securities firms. Regulators also gain broader market-surveillance authority over the sector, according to local reports.
Penalties climb under the new law. The maximum prison term for unregistered crypto operators rises from three years to 10, while the top fine increases from 3 million yen to 10 million yen, near $62,000. The tougher enforcement signals a move to treat crypto misconduct with the same severity as securities fraud.
The reclassification carries two consequences that reach beyond compliance. First, it opens a path for spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds. Because FIEA governs the products that funds can hold, moving crypto under its umbrella removes a structural barrier that kept Japanese asset managers from launching regulated bitcoin ETFs.
Second, it clears the way for a tax overhaul. Japan taxes crypto gains as miscellaneous income at rates that reach 55 percent, among the steepest treatment in any major market. Lawmakers approved a plan to cut the top rate to a flat 20 percent, a level that matches the tax on stock gains. The reduction, tied to the 2026 Tax Reform Outline, activates in 2028.
The reforms arrive as Japan accelerates a broader Web3 push and as regulators weigh reserve requirements for exchanges that resemble the buffers held by securities firms. User accounts on Japanese exchanges have grown, and domestic crypto firms are positioning for a wider base of retail investors.
For an industry that has long viewed Japan as an early and cautious mover, the vote marks a decisive turn toward legitimacy.
The country that once served as a template for crypto regulation is now aligning digital assets with its capital markets, a decision that could pressure other jurisdictions to follow.
This post Japan’s Landmark Vote Reclassifies Bitcoin And Crypto As Financial Assets first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.
Bitcoin Magazine
UK Adopts ‘No Gain, No Loss’ Tax Treatment for Crypto Lending and Liquidity Pools
The United Kingdom’s HM Revenue & Customs will treat certain disposals involving cryptoasset loans and liquidity pools as “no gain, no loss,” deferring Capital Gains Tax until a user makes an economic disposal of the underlying cryptocurrency.
The measure, published Monday, takes effect 6 April 2027 and applies to individuals and trustees who enter cryptoasset loan and liquidity pool arrangements, according to the policy paper.
It amends the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992.
The rules cover three scenarios. In a single cryptoasset lending arrangement, a user who acquires or disposes of an interest in exchange for cryptoassets of the same type as those invested will be taxed on a no-gain-no-loss basis.
Borrowing arrangements will treat borrowed cryptoassets as acquired at market value at the time of borrowing, with any collateral disregarded for Capital Gains Tax purposes.
For automated market-making arrangements — liquidity pools operated through smart contracts — a user acquiring an interest in exchange for the same type of cryptoasset is also taxed on a no-gain-no-loss basis. On exit, that treatment holds to the extent the user receives the same quantity first invested. Any difference between what was invested and what is received triggers a gain or a loss.
HMRC said the change aligns tax treatment with the economics of these arrangements, recognizing gains and losses only when a participant makes an economic disposal.
The measure addresses problems that arose from HMRC’s own 2022 guidance, which stakeholders said produced disproportionate administrative burdens.
A call for evidence ran from July to August 2022, followed by a consultation between 27 April and 22 June 2023 that sought to align tax with economic substance by not treating crypto used in DeFi lending and liquidity pools as a taxable disposal.
HMRC published a summary of responses at Budget 2025 and set out its approach at that time.
The change is expected to affect about 700,000 individuals who engage in these transactions, according to the paper. HMRC said users will benefit from a framework that is easier to understand.
The current UK regime treats crypto as an investment asset, with selling, swapping, or spending it counting as a disposal for Capital Gains Tax at 18% for basic-rate taxpayers and 24% for higher-rate taxpayers. The new treatment modifies that disposal rule for certain lending and liquidity pool arrangements.
Final costing will be subject to scrutiny by the Office for Budget Responsibility and set out at a future fiscal event. HMRC said the measure is not expected to have any significant macroeconomic impact.
This post UK Adopts ‘No Gain, No Loss’ Tax Treatment for Crypto Lending and Liquidity Pools first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.
Bitcoin Magazine
White House Crypto Chief Patrick Witt to Begin Military Leave as Clarity Act Nears Senate Deadline
Patrick Witt, the White House’s top crypto adviser, will begin a months-long leave of absence this month to report for training with the Georgia Army National Guard, according to a report from Crypto in America.
His departure arrives as the Senate works to advance the Clarity Act before its August recess.
Witt, 37, is expected to conclude his White House work next Friday before reporting on July 27 to the Guard’s Judge Advocate General (JAG) program. Completion of the training qualifies him to serve as a JAG officer, a military attorney who advises on military justice and operational and administrative law. Witt and the White House did not respond to Crypto in America’s requests for comment.
Witt took over as executive director of the White House crypto council last August, after Bo Hines left the post for a role at stablecoin issuer Tether. He spent two years at the Defense Department before the appointment.
Sources told Crypto in America that Witt applied to the JAG program last spring and postponed an April start date to remain at the White House as Clarity Act talks stretched on. A second postponement was not an option.
The timing carries weight for the Clarity Act, the crypto industry’s market structure bill, which would divide oversight of digital assets between the SEC and the CFTC. The measure cleared the House in July 2025 by a 294-134 vote and advanced from the Senate Banking Committee in May by a 15-9 margin.
Senate leaders aim to open floor debate before Congress breaks on August 7, a window many policy observers view as the last chance for passage this Congress.
As executive director, Witt served as the administration’s chief negotiator on the bill. He led talks with lawmakers and industry stakeholders over its most contested provisions, including a compromise on stablecoin yield, disputes over ethics language, and concerns from law enforcement groups about developer protections.
The ethics provisions remain among the bill’s largest obstacles. Lawmakers continue to negotiate guardrails addressing President Trump’s crypto business interests, after disclosures showed he earned more than $1 billion from crypto ventures last year.
Prediction market Polymarket prices 2026 passage near 48 percent, down from 74 percent a month earlier.
In Witt’s absence, crypto council deputy director Harry Jung is expected to assume his duties. Jung worked alongside Witt over the past year and sat in on many of the same negotiations, a factor sources cited as a measure of continuity. Witt intends to stay involved during training, though his full-time return remains unconfirmed.
Beyond the Clarity Act, Witt has directed the administration’s rollout of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and its work on the GENIUS Act, the stablecoin law enacted in July 2025, along with efforts to revise the tax treatment of digital assets.
This post White House Crypto Chief Patrick Witt to Begin Military Leave as Clarity Act Nears Senate Deadline first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.
Bitcoin Magazine
Russia’s Largest Private Bank Alfa-Bank To Test Bitcoin and Crypto Trading
Alfa-Bank, Russia’s largest private lender, is preparing to launch its own digital depository and a full slate of crypto services once national regulation takes effect, joining a widening race among Russian banks to capture a market that does not yet legally exist.
Dmitry Vitman, chief operating officer of Alfa-Bank’s corporate and investment business, told RBC Investments that the bank intends to offer “all possible services related to digital currencies” once the relevant legislation comes into force.
“First and foremost, we plan to create our own digital depository and offer its services to other companies,” he said.
Under the framework expected to govern the market, a digital depository would record and store cryptocurrency and digital financial assets, monitor client transactions, and block transfers to addresses not sanctioned by authorities.
Firms that already hold a depository license would not need a separate license from the Central Bank to operate one.
Vitman said the market will develop gradually. Retail brokerage will come first, leaning on Russian and international infrastructure, with a possible launch in late 2026 or early 2027 if digital currency legislation enters into force in September 2026.
Even so, he cautioned that meaningful liquidity and volume in Russia’s crypto market are unlikely to materialize before late 2027, a timeline that reflects both the untested regulatory machinery and the caution of institutions wary of moving before the rules are final.
The bank also wants to build Russian investment instruments on open blockchains capable of attracting foreign investors.
“It’s important for Russia to develop its own instruments, otherwise we’ll have nothing to offer,” Vitman said. “We need to attract investors to our infrastructure, so we need to create products that can compete globally.”
Alfa-Bank is far from alone. T-Technologies Group, which controls T-Bank, has announced plans to launch a digital depository built on the Atomize digital financial asset platform and to sell crypto through its broker, T-Investments.
VTB Bank likewise plans to create its own domestic digital depository for storing, recording, and circulating digital assets, including Bitcoin.
State-owned giant Sberbank is moving the fastest. The bank will launch a digital depository for storing and accounting crypto by December 1. Sberbank also plans to enable authorized crypto transactions inside its Sber app and SberInvestments, integrating custody directly into services that reach tens of millions of Russians.
The draft law “On Digital Currency and Digital Rights” has passed its first reading in the State Duma, advancing a sweeping regime that defines crypto circulation rules and introduces new professional participants, including crypto exchanges and digital depositories.
Originally slated to take effect July 1, 2026, the law’s timeline has slipped, with the new expected in-force date set for September 1.
Vladimir Chistyukhin, first deputy chairman of the Central Bank, said the regulator expects all rules needed to launch legal crypto operations to be adopted and published by November, clearing the way for the first transactions.
The Moscow Exchange expects to conduct its first crypto trades by the end of 2026.
This post Russia’s Largest Private Bank Alfa-Bank To Test Bitcoin and Crypto Trading first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.
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