Moscow — December 25, 2025. Russia is moving toward the most formal, retail-facing crypto regime it has ever proposed — but with guardrails designed to keep the market tightly supervised, limit household exposure, and preserve the ruble’s monopoly on domestic payments.

At the center of the shift is a new concept paper from the Bank of Russia that would allow both retail (“non‑qualified”) and professional (“qualified”) investors to buy crypto through licensed intermediaries, under mandatory testing and strict limits for most citizens. ^[1]

Today’s follow-up reporting (December 25) adds a key operational angle: Russia’s biggest exchanges say they’re preparing to support regulated crypto trading once the legislative…