Rosfinmonitoring is preparing a major crackdown: new rules for identification and control in the crypto market
The Russian regulator, represented by Rosfinmonitoring, has announced a significant tightening of rules for working with digital currencies. This is not just another bureaucratic amendment—it is a signal that the state intends to completely bring crypto turnover out of the shadows, subordinating it to the standards of traditional financial monitoring.
Total Identification: Who Is Under Threat
The key innovation is mandatory full client identification for new market participants. Brokers, trust managers, crypto exchanges, and depositories wishing to legally work with cryptocurrencies and digital rights are now required to disclose not only their clients' data but also information about ultimate beneficiaries and beneficial owners. This is a direct blow to anonymity, which has so far been one of the main "features" of the crypto market in Russia.
To reduce the operational burden on small players, the regulator has allowed the transfer of identification functions to commercial banks and professional securities market participants. In effect, this means that banks will become "gateways" for entry into the regulated crypto sector, which will inevitably lead to market consolidation around large financial structures.
Travel Rule and Expansion of Mandatory Control
The second important block is the full implementation of the Travel Rule principle. Each crypto transaction will now be accompanied by end-to-end information about the sender and recipient. This is already a standard in the EU and most FATF countries, and Russia is forced to catch up to avoid being placed on the "gray list." At the same time, it is planned to expand the list of transactions subject to mandatory control by adding five new types of crypto deals.
Let me remind you that the current version of Federal Law 115-FZ already classifies transactions with digital financial assets worth 1 million rubles or more as operations subject to mandatory control. Now, banks, brokers, and digital depositories will receive the legal right to block suspicious cryptocurrency transfers, while foreign trade operations using digital rights will be monitored separately.
Political Context and Timeline
Advisor to the head of the agency, Vlada Korchagina, directly linked this initiative to the need to bring the Russian AML system in line with FATF recommendations ahead of the upcoming assessment. The goal is to "decriminalize" the cryptocurrency market, i.e., to push out illegal services and gray schemes. However, the innovations will only take effect after the adoption of the bill "On Digital Currency and Digital Rights," which has so far only passed its first reading.
My analysis: This is an inevitable but painful stage in the evolution of the crypto market in Russia. On the one hand, regulation creates legal certainty and attracts institutional investors. On the other hand, the current identification requirements effectively destroy the segment of p2p exchanges and decentralized services that cannot comply with these standards. The market faces a harsh filtering: only those willing to play by the rules of traditional finance, rather than the rules of blockchain, will survive.