The postponement of cryptocurrency legislation in Russia: a prolonged pause
Bill No. 1194918-8 "On Digital Currency and Digital Rights," which successfully passed its first reading on April 21, will not be adopted by the planned deadline of July 1. This has been officially confirmed by the Ministry of Finance.
Alexei Yakovlev, Director of the Financial Policy Department at the Ministry of Finance, stated on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum (SPILF) 2026: "Overall, everything is ready. We expect the State Duma committee soon, after which the second reading will proceed. We probably won't make it by July 1, but around that time." Thus, the prolonged coordination and revision of the document push the final approval to a later date.
What does the bill propose?
The document establishes the basic legal framework for the circulation of virtual coins within the country. Individuals and legal entities will have the right to officially acquire digital coins, but exclusively through certified operators. The list of authorized intermediaries will include:
- specialized exchange services from the Central Bank's registry;
- licensed brokers;
- official trust managers.
At the same time, the use of tokens for payment of goods or services within the state will remain strictly prohibited.
The market anticipated the delay
Information noise around the schedule change arose among blockchain entrepreneurs long before the ministry's official comments. Sergei Mendeleev, founder of the Exved platform, shared an insider tip on June 22 that the discussion of the crypto initiative had been quietly removed from the parliamentary committee's work plan, although the meeting was scheduled for the next day.
Mendeleev believes it is advisable to return the document text to the first reading stage. This would allow the new composition of deputies to refine it during the autumn session. Otherwise, the expert summarized, the industry will face the old problems that previously arose during the legalization of miners' activities. Let me remind you that Mendeleev participated in discussions on future rules for regulating cryptocurrency in Russia and previously noted that the bill's authors ignored proposals from experienced representatives of the crypto industry.
My analysis: Another postponement of deadlines is not just a bureaucratic delay. It is a signal of deep disagreements between regulators and market participants. Ignoring expert recommendations at the development stage threatens that the adopted law will turn out to be raw and unworkable, which will only strengthen the gray turnover of digital assets in the country. The autumn session will become a decisive milestone for Russian crypto regulation.