Moscow's Crypto Mandate: Russia Approves First Batch of Licensed Exchanges and Custodians

Establishing a legal framework for local digital asset transactions, the Bank of Russia has released its first official registers for digital custodians and cryptocurrency trading companies. Under transitional rules, four exchange operators—VTB Bank, T-Invest Lab, Zefir, and Sistema-Krypto—and five custodians—Sberbank, VTB Bank, Voltari, Atomyze, and Cloud Infrastructure—were authorized. VTB Bank clearly has licenses in both classes. After August 2026, when President Vladimir Putin signed the Law on Digital Currencies and Digital Rights, the central bank takes on the main regulator's role, supervising rigorous operational standards, minimum capital requirements of around 15 million rubles ($185k–$187k), and a 300,000 ruble yearly retail purchase cap per intermediary, all while keeping the ban on domestic crypto payments.

This turning point marks a changeover period lasting until 2027 that lets current market players keep little operating rights while meeting central bank compliance standards. Sberbank, an industry powerhouse, has already indicated intentions to introduce client-facing crypto services—first targeting Bitcoin, Ether, and USDT—starting December 1, 2026 via its digital custody license. Including mostly state-linked organizations like Sberbank and VTB suggests a plan centered on closely watched, bank-intermediated infrastructure instead of open decentralized finance.

From a larger viewpoint, the legal reforms move Russia from a grey-market position toward a highly regulated, state-supervised financial system. The framework gives institutional liquidity and authorized cross-border trade settlements top attention while ring-fencing retail exposure and capital flight risks. This bank-centric approach reflects regional trends in strict market access, therefore establishing a precedent for state-controlled cryptocurrency integration in a big developing economy.