From Underground to On-Book: Bank of Russia Drafts First Blueprint for Regulated Crypto Market

The Bank of Russia has published draft rules creating a formal framework for digital assets' trading, settlement, and keeping. Under the suggested regulations, official crypto exchanges will have to create consistent internal trading handbooks and openly define their techniques for figuring weighted average pricing based on market and volume. The system adds specialized "digital depositories" to protect investor assets. These authorized entities will operate like conventional securities depositories and handle asset registration, record keeping for token holders, and post-trade settlements. The central bank has presented a tiered equity structure for potential digital depositories to help to preserve institutional strength and defend market integrity. Operators' minimum capital requirement, adjusted for their operational reach—that is, whether they interface directly with public blockchains or offer complete post-trade clearing services—must be between 50 million and 250 million rubles. Moreover, the central bank demands that this capital be entirely comprised of very liquid, excellent credit quality assets. Retaining direct supervisory control, the Bank of Russia will run the official central register of all approved depositories. This draft marks a clear move from loose crypto activity to a strictly regulated national market structure. Although the general approach forbids digital assets as a typical means of payment inside Russia, it establishes explicit channels for licensed brokers, institutional investment, and international trade. Stakeholders can still offer comments before these ideas become binding legislation since the material is meant for regulatory impact evaluation.