Rosfinmonitoring tightens the screws: new rules for Russia's cryptocurrency market
The digital currency market in Russia is bracing for another wave of tightening. Rosfinmonitoring has announced a set of measures aimed at total control over the circulation of crypto assets. This is not just about formal amendments, but a systemic restructuring of approaches to identifying participants and monitoring transactions.
Identification Without Loopholes: Who Will Be Affected
The key innovation will be mandatory full identification of clients for all new participants in the crypto market. Brokers and trust managers working with cryptocurrency and digital rights will now be required to disclose not only their clients' data but also the ultimate beneficiaries. This will significantly complicate life for anonymous players accustomed to gray schemes. However, to reduce administrative burden, exchanges and depositories will be allowed to delegate identification functions to commercial banks—a loophole for those who do not want to set up their own compliance departments.
Travel Rule and Five New Types of Control
The list of transactions subject to mandatory control will expand by five new items directly related to cryptocurrency. The most significant change is the full implementation of the Travel Rule principle. This means that every crypto transaction will now be accompanied by end-to-end information about the sender and recipient. In effect, we are moving to a standard that has long been in place in the EU and is recommended by the FATF. The digital depository is planned to be integrated into a unified system for information support of transfers, making the chain of fund movement completely transparent for the regulator.
Practical Implications and Timeframes
The current version of Federal Law No. 115 already classifies transactions with digital financial assets (DFAs) worth 1 million rubles or more as operations subject to mandatory control. Banks, brokers, and depositories will gain the right to block suspicious transfers. Control over foreign trade operations using digital rights is also separately stipulated. According to representatives of the agency, the initiative is directly linked to the need to align Russia's AML system with FATF recommendations ahead of the upcoming assessment.
The innovations will only take effect after the adoption of the bill "On Digital Currency and Digital Rights," which has so far passed only its first reading. This creates a time lag during which the market can adapt, but one should not be deceived: once the law is passed, control will become total.
My analysis: This is not just another tightening, but a direct preparation for the FATF review. Russia risks ending up on the "gray list" if it fails to demonstrate real supervisory effectiveness. For the market, this means the end of the era of semi-legal P2P exchanges and anonymous transactions. Those who counted on maintaining the status quo must reconsider their strategies—playing hide-and-seek with the regulator is becoming deadly for business.