The State Duma Committee on the Financial Market has presented an updated version of the controversial bill "On Digital Currency and Digital Rights" for the second reading. The key change is a fundamentally new mechanism for blocking transactions related to the illegal circulation of cryptocurrencies. Instead of strict registries of prohibited persons, the regulator proposes that banks assess risks themselves.
The original version involved maintaining two lists: the first would include legal entities and individual entrepreneurs organizing cryptocurrency circulation in circumvention of the law, and the second would include foreign payment providers servicing such violators. Both registries have been excluded. Instead, the concept of an "unauthorized recipient" is introduced—a recipient of funds against whom the bank has suspicions of illegal activity.
Critically important: the bill does not establish clear criteria for "suspiciousness" and does not task the Bank of Russia with developing them. Each credit institution will determine them independently, recording them in internal documents. This opens up wide scope for subjective interpretation.
Banks are required to transmit information about such recipients to the Central Bank, and the regulator will be able to provide them only with data on foreign payment services handling transfers in favor of the "unauthorized." Publication of this information is not provided for.
Who and how will block
Payment agents, telecom operators, and participants in the digital ruble platform have been excluded from the mechanism. The obligation to refuse transfers falls on credit institutions, branches of foreign banks, and payment card issuers. In case of refusal, the client must be immediately notified, but the procedure for notifying the "unauthorized" recipient themselves and the mechanism for challenging the blocking are absent from the document.
There are three exceptions when a bank is not obliged to block a transfer: the transaction is related to a foreign trade contract, the transfer is made on behalf of an organization exchanging digital currency, or on behalf of a broker or trustee (with permission from the Central Bank).
The State Duma plans to consider the bill in the second reading on July 21. Earlier, First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Vladimir Chistyukhin stated that the law on regulating the crypto market will come into force on September 1.
My comment as an analyst: In fact, we are witnessing a transition from strict preventive control to a more flexible, but also more subjective model. The absence of uniform criteria for "suspiciousness" creates significant risks for bona fide market participants—banks may block transactions based on internal, opaque algorithms. This could lead to chaos in cross-border payments and cryptocurrency P2P operations, especially in the gray zone where the line between legal and illegal circulation is blurred. I expect that businesses will actively push for amendments specifying the criteria.