The State Duma Committee on the Financial Market has significantly amended the bill "On Digital Currency and Digital Rights," preparing it for the second reading. The key innovation is the abandonment of two registries that were originally planned to be maintained by an authorized body. Instead, the concept of an "unauthorized recipient" is introduced.
According to the original version, the first registry was to include legal entities, individual entrepreneurs, and foreigners organizing cryptocurrency turnover bypassing legal market participants. The second registry was intended for foreign payment providers servicing transfers in favor of individuals on the first list (excluding foreign banks). Both lists have now been removed.
The new mechanism places the obligation on banks to independently identify "unauthorized recipients"—addressees suspected of organizing digital currency turnover without legal status. The law does not define the criteria for such suspicions nor instruct the Bank of Russia to develop them. Each financial institution will establish these criteria in its internal documents.
Banks are required to transmit information about "unauthorized recipients" to the Central Bank. In response, the regulator may provide data on foreign payment service providers servicing transfers in their favor. Publication of this information is not required.
The obligation to refuse transfers is placed on credit institutions, branches of foreign banks, and payment card issuers. Payment agents, telecom operators, postal operators, and participants of the digital ruble platform are excluded from the mechanism.
The bank must immediately notify the client of the refusal in the manner prescribed in the contract. However, procedures for notifying the "unauthorized recipient" themselves and for challenging the blocking are absent from the document.
The bank is not obliged to refuse a transfer in three cases: if the transaction is related to a foreign trade contract; if the transfer is made on behalf of an organization exchanging digital currency; or on behalf of a broker or trustee with the Central Bank's permission.
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.
Analytical commentary: The transition from rigid registries to a flexible system of "unauthorized recipients" is a step toward more adaptive regulation, but it creates risks for bona fide participants. The lack of clear criteria for suspicions and a mechanism for challenging blockages could lead to abuses by banks and unjustified refusals of transfers, especially amid market uncertainty.