Remarkable data regarding the size of the cryptocurrency market in Russia has been made public. It was announced that the country's daily cryptocurrency transaction volume has reached 50 billion rubles, or approximately $650 million; and the total annual volume exceeds 10 trillion rubles. This represents a massive economic activity of roughly $130.5 billion.
Attention is now focused on the spring period
These figures were presented by Russian Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov at the Alfa Talk conference. Chebeskov pointed out that transactions of this magnitude largely take place outside the regulation sphere, emphasizing that the current situation remains outside the direct oversight of public authorities. According to officials, this volume, exceeding 10 trillion rubles annually, operates outside the framework of official regulation. This situation has prompted the government and the Central Bank of Russia to prepare comprehensive regulations to legalize the cryptocurrency market. The goal is to pass a new cryptocurrency law through the State Duma in the spring.
Central Bank Deputy Governor Vladimir Chistyukhin stated that both the government and the Central Bank expect the draft law on the cryptocurrency market to be adopted during the spring session. The prepared framework will open the door for licensed financial infrastructure to enter the crypto asset space.
In this context, exchanges and brokerage firms that are already operating with licenses will be able to offer crypto services. Crypto trading, including spot transactions, will be brought to a legal basis. A special licensing requirement will be introduced, especially for cryptocurrency exchanges; sanctions are planned for unlicensed intermediaries.
Moscow Exchange (MOEX), one of Russia's largest financial infrastructure institutions, has already started offering crypto-related products. The exchange lists cash-settled futures contracts for Bitcoin and Ethereum. It is planned to add Solana, XRP, and TRX futures in the coming period. If the new regulation comes into force, MOEX and brokerage firms will be able to operate directly in the spot crypto market.
According to the draft regulation, both qualified and unqualified investors will be able to participate in crypto transactions; however, certain limitations are foreseen for unqualified investors. This approach aims to offer a balanced model that increases investor protection while not completely closing the market. According to the Russian Central Bank's financial stability report, by mid-2025, the total assets held by Russian users on global cryptocurrency exchanges reached 933 billion rubles, or approximately $11.9 billion. The majority of these platforms are not regulated within Russia. Sergey Shvetsov, head of the MOEX Supervisory Board, states that Russian investors pay approximately $15 billion in commissions annually to global cryptocurrency platforms. It is estimated that the total annual commission revenue from cryptocurrency transactions by cryptocurrency exchanges and traditional exchanges globally is around $50 billion, with approximately one-third of this potentially originating from Russia. Data from the international blockchain analytics company Chainalysis also reveals that Russia is the largest cryptocurrency market in Europe. Between July 2024 and June 2025, $376.3 billion in cryptocurrency flowed into Russia. During the same period, the United Kingdom ranked second with a volume of $273.2 billion. Germany and Ukraine were other European countries that received over $200 billion in cryptocurrency inflows. All this data shows that the cryptocurrency market in Russia has reached a size that can no longer be ignored. The government's goal is to bring this massive volume of transactions operating in the grey area under control, broaden the tax base, and make local financial institutions competitive with global platforms. The law, expected to be enacted in the spring, could mark the beginning of a new era in Russia's crypto policy.
