Russia has passed a long-awaited law establishing a legal framework for cryptocurrency trading, allowing Russians to buy and sell major digital assets through Central Bank-regulated intermediaries while maintaining a ban on using cryptocurrencies for domestic payments. The legislation, adopted after years of debate, is part of the Kremlin's broader effort to formalize the cryptocurrency market while preserving tight state oversight. Exchanges, brokers, custodians and other service providers must obtain Central Bank licenses by July 1, 2027, creating a regulated market similar to Russia's securities market.
Under the new rules, retail investors will be limited to purchasing no more than 300,000 rubles ($3,840) worth of cryptocurrencies per year through any single intermediary, with about 98% of Russian investors falling into this category. All cryptocurrency transactions, custody and record-keeping must take place within the regulated system. Only cryptocurrencies with an average market capitalization above 5 trillion rubles ($64 billion) and average daily trading volumes exceeding 1 trillion rubles ($12.8 billion) over the previous two years will automatically qualify for trading. Bitcoin, Ether and the stablecoin USDT meet these criteria, while the Central Bank's board will decide whether to admit other cryptocurrencies.
The legislation addresses concerns about Western sanctions restricting access to the global financial system, as authorities increasingly turn to cryptocurrencies for cross-border trade. However, Dmitry Machikhin, founder of blockchain analytics company Bitok, told the Kommersant newspaper that many investors fear cryptocurrency addresses associated with Russian regulated platforms could become flagged by Western authorities, making the new system unattractive for most users. The Central Bank estimated Russians held about 720 billion rubles ($9.22 billion) worth of cryptocurrencies on centralized exchanges after the market downturn, including Bitcoin worth 350 billion rubles ($4.48 billion) and Ether worth 44 billion rubles ($563 million).
Ethereum is currently trading at $1,922.29, representing an $18.38 decrease from yesterday and approximately $1,826 loss over the past year. With a market capitalization of around $233 billion, Ethereum maintains its position as the second-largest cryptocurrency, significantly ahead of third-place Tether at $183 billion, though well below Bitcoin's roughly $1.33 trillion market cap. Ethereum's value has experienced extreme volatility, peaking at nearly $5,000 in August 2025, representing nearly 1.6 million percent growth from its original ICO price of just 31 cents in 2014. The cryptocurrency has shown 46% growth over the past five years (2020-2025), though it has been subject to dramatic swings exceeding 80% gains and 60% losses.
Two developers have gone to prison facing trials over four words in a 1970s-era framework: what counts as transmitting money. According to reports from CoinDesk, the answer decides whether writing DeFi code is a regulated financial business or protected publishing, with Section 604 of the CLARITY Act being Congress's attempt to settle this legal dispute. The Tornado Cash and Samourai Wallet prosecutions have advanced the opposite theory that developers can transmit money they never control, creating the sharpest legal dispute in crypto that pits prosecutors' tool preservation against the industry's claim that regulating code is regulating speech.
