Russia Drafts Bill to Make Cryptocurrency Part of Everyday Life, Lawmaker Says

Moscow moves to integrate digital assets into the fabric of daily commerce—legislation now in the works could normalize crypto payments for everything from groceries to gas.

From Rubles to Ripple

Lawmakers are drafting a framework that would treat cryptocurrency not as a speculative toy, but as a functional tool. The bill aims to create legal pathways for using digital assets in routine transactions—bypassing traditional banking rails entirely.

A State-Backed Pivot

This isn't just regulatory tidying. It's a strategic shift. By legitimizing everyday crypto use, Russia positions itself to attract blockchain innovation while building a parallel financial infrastructure—one that operates outside Western-dominated systems.

The Fine Print

Details remain under wraps, but the core mandate is clear: establish clear rules for crypto as a medium of exchange. Expect definitions, tax guidelines, and consumer protections—the usual bureaucratic machinery, now applied to decentralized ledgers.

Why This Matters

If passed, this could trigger a domino effect. Other nations watching from the sidelines might follow suit, accelerating global adoption. For crypto natives, it's validation. For skeptics, it's a risky experiment with national currency. And for finance traditionalists? Just another headache—like watching your hedge fund's lunch money get eaten by a meme coin.

The bill cuts through years of regulatory ambiguity. It doesn't just enable crypto—it actively folds it into the economic mainstream. Whether that mainstream is ready is another question entirely.

Crypto to become part of Russian life, lawmaker vows

A draft law designed to liberalize and simplify crypto operations has already been prepared, according to Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the important Committee on Financial Markets at the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s bicameral legislature. The document will help make the use of the digital currency commonplace in the lives of Russian citizens, emphasized the lawmaker, who is overseeing efforts to legalize transactions with digital assets. The main goal of the legislative initiative is to turn cryptocurrency into an accessible tool for most Russians while simultaneously integrating it into the nation’s economy, Aksakov clarified. Quoted by the official TASS news agency and leading daily newspapers such as Rossiyskaya Gazeta and Vedomosti, he further unveiled: “Considerable attention will be paid to the development of digital financial assets, and we will devote a great deal of time to cryptocurrencies during the upcoming spring session.” “A bill has already been drafted that WOULD exempt cryptocurrencies from special financial regulation, meaning they will become commonplace in our lives,” Aksakov said in comments for the Rossiya-24 TV channel. He added that the reforms advancing in his chamber will provide what he described as a powerful impetus for the development of Russia’s crypto industry under domestic regulations. Professional participants in the financial market will be able to work with cryptocurrencies without restrictions, while non-qualified investors will have access, too, albeit restricted, the deputy highlighted. He went on to point out that under the upcoming rules, Russian residents will be able to actively use digital coins for international settlements and to raise foreign capital by placing such assets on the financial markets of other nations.

Russia moving closer to cryptocurrency legalization

The current push to legalize crypto flows in Russia began when its monetary authority released key points from its new regulatory concept in late December. The proposal aims to recognize cryptocurrencies as “monetary assets,” expand investor access to them and their derivatives, and help Russian companies attract foreign investment, as reported by Cryptopolitan. The announcement came after 2025 became the year that significantly changed Russia’s traditionally conservative attitude towards crypto in general. Pressed by Western sanctions that restricted its access to traditional financial channels, last spring the country introduced a special legal regime permitting the use of digital currencies in cross-border payments. The “experimental” solution also gave a narrow category of “highly qualified” investors the opportunity to put money into crypto assets. In May, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) authorized financial firms to offer them crypto derivatives as well. In November, financial regulators in Moscow started discussing the possibility of scrapping the current overly strict requirements for investors that include a minimum annual income threshold and prior experience in traditional investments. Under the new legislation, expected to be adopted by July 1, 2026, regular qualified investors and even ordinary citizens will be able to legally buy bitcoin and the like, although crypto purchases for the latter will be limited to 300,000 rubles ($3,800) a year.

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