The Federal Law "On Digital Currencies and Digital Rights" was signed on August 4, 2026 and comes into force on September 1. For the first time, he describes the turnover of cryptocurrencies in Russia in a comprehensive manner, rather than separate norms in related acts.
The chart turned out to be three-tiered, and the confusion in dates has already cost the market several waves of incorrect expectations.
- The basic rules apply from September 1, 2026. Digital currency gets the status of property: it can be owned, bought, sold, donated and inherited, the rights to it are protected in court. The Bank of Russia becomes the regulator. It forms registers of information system operators, digital depositories and crypto exchanges and begins issuing permits. It is prohibited to pay with cryptocurrency for ordinary goods and services within the country.
- Starting from July 1, 2027, transactions with cryptocurrency by residents must take place only through intermediaries from the Central Bank's registry. This is where the main point for the foreign trade business is located: settlements on foreign economic activity are not included in the number of operations required for mediation. The exceptions also include direct sales by miners of mined cryptocurrencies to non-residents and operations entirely in the external circuit.
- Starting from September 1, 2027, the fraud protection mechanism is activated: the digital depository delays for 48 hours the transfer of over 100,000 rubles to an external wallet and sending over 300,000 rubles to a third party. During this period, the operation can be canceled.
The infrastructure requirements are set rigidly. Only a Russian company with its own funds of at least 15 million rubles can become a crypto exchange. A digital depository will need from 50 to 250 million, depending on the riskiness of the business, while capital cannot be formed from either the digital currency itself or from foreign instruments, and the limit on real estate is 25%. The transition period for obtaining licenses lasts until July 1, 2027.
Anonymous coins are a separate area of attention. Transactions with assets that hide participant data and transfers are subject to restrictions.
What should the importer do before Monday? Record the current scheme of your crypto payments under foreign trade contracts and whether they fall into the exception for foreign economic activity. Check whether your counterparty is working through the experimental legal regime under Federal Law No. 221-FZ dated 08.08.2024 or outside it. Collect documentary evidence of the connection of each transaction with a specific foreign trade agreement: it is this connection that separates the legitimate scheme from the calculations that do not fall under the exception.
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