The Bank of Russia is launching total deanonymization of the crypto market: what will change for investors
The Russian regulator is preparing for a radical tightening of control over the crypto market. The Bank of Russia intends to grant digital asset operators access to its anti-money laundering database — the "Know Your Customer" platform. Essentially, this is a domestic analogue of the international KYC standard, but with much stricter requirements for market participants.
Advisor to the Director of Rosfinmonitoring, Vlada Korchagina, revealed details of the upcoming reform at the specialized forum "Digital Assets in Russia." Now, digital depositories and brokers will be required to conduct deep user identification and accompany transactions according to the travel rule. This means that anonymity in the crypto asset market in Russia effectively ceases to exist.
New Verification Rules: From Legal Entities to Beneficiaries
All new participants in the crypto market will face a full identification procedure. For corporate clients, this means collecting detailed information about the organization itself, its legal representatives, beneficiaries, and ultimate beneficial owners. Traditional brokers and management companies can still collect a limited set of documents, but if a client wants to invest in digital currencies, the intermediary will have to conduct full verification.
Lawmakers have also provided for easing mechanisms: depositories and crypto exchanges will be allowed to delegate verification to third-party financial institutions — commercial banks or professional securities market participants. However, at the slightest suspicion about the legality of an investor's income, the company will be able to refuse to open a digital account with justification.
Five Types of Control and the Travel Rule: What Changes
The new bill establishes five types of crypto asset transactions subject to strict control. Financial organizations will be required to promptly inform Rosfinmonitoring about any transactions amounting to 1 million rubles or more. Special attention is paid to the international travel rule standard developed by the FATF. According to this rule, when transferring cryptocurrency, the intermediary is obliged to transmit personal data about the participants along with the payment — just as commercial banks automatically accompany standard money transfers with information about the payer and recipient.
Along with the transfer of digital currency or digital rights, data about the sender and recipient will be transmitted. Digital depositories fully integrated into the system and brokers accepting client orders are required to accompany transfers with such information. This completely eliminates the anonymity that is initially embedded in blockchain networks.
Government bill No. 1194918-8 was already adopted by the State Duma in the first reading on April 21. From July 1, 2026, if it is finally adopted, citizens and companies will be able to legally buy cryptocurrency only through licensed intermediaries from the Central Bank's register. For unqualified investors, a limit of 300,000 rubles per year will be set for a limited list of assets — it is expected to include Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT, and USDC. Qualified investors will have access to any cryptocurrencies except anonymous ones. Internal settlements in cryptocurrency within the country will remain prohibited, and non-custodial storage is not yet provided for by Russian regulation.
My expert opinion: This is not just a tightening — it is a fundamental paradigm shift. The Russian market is moving towards a model where cryptocurrency will be available but completely transparent to the state. For institutional investors, this could be a positive signal, but retail traders who value anonymity will face a tough choice: legalization with loss of privacy or retreat into the "gray" zone with the risk of blocking.