The Central Bank is tightening control: punishment for "silence" about cryptocurrency risks
The Bank of Russia has announced the launch of a large-scale review of so-called misselling practices—situations where financial organizations sell one product under the guise of another or deliberately conceal its key characteristics. The regulator's special focus is on the digital currency market and instruments that will become accessible to retail investors starting September 1 through licensed intermediaries. The quality of customer information will be under particular scrutiny from the very start.
Central Bank Deputy Chairman Mikhail Mamuta emphasized that monitoring such practices will become mandatory. Cryptocurrency regulation is a new area, and at the initial stage it is critically important to track how honestly and fully companies disclose risks, not just potential returns. The filters already built into the rules, including mandatory testing of customer knowledge and limits on transaction amounts depending on the level of risk, remain in force. However, as the regulator rightly notes, these barriers do not guarantee that the client will be told the whole truth during the sale. That is why the Central Bank is adding its own close oversight of seller behavior to the formal restrictions.
What lies behind the new rules
In August, President Vladimir Putin signed a law that for the first time comprehensively regulates the circulation of digital currencies and digital rights in Russia. The document establishes rules for the operation of crypto exchanges, digital depositories, and market participants, as well as defining the conditions for purchasing cryptocurrencies for investors. The regulation covers the organization of circulation, accounting and storage of assets, mining, issuance and circulation of digital rights, as well as the activities of information system operators and exchange platforms.
For non-qualified buyers, the Central Bank has set a cap of 300,000 rubles per year per intermediary. However, as experts note, distributing transactions across different licensed platforms remains a legal way to bypass this threshold. Executive Director of RACIB Alexander Brazhnikov calls the document an institutionalization of the market, rather than its legalization in a consumer sense. The Central Bank's by-laws—testing criteria, registry procedures, requirements for depositories—will determine the actual strictness of the rules more than the text of the law itself.
The industry also has complaints about certain provisions. The most controversial is Article 30, which allows digital currency to be issued as a loan only to crypto brokers, trust managers, crypto exchanges, and clearing organizations. Miners and private holders of large portfolios have been left out of this list, creating a legal conflict.
My view: Tightening oversight of misselling is a logical step, but it only highlights the main problem: formal barriers will not protect an investor from dishonest advice. The real effectiveness of the new rules will depend not on the text of the law, but on how the Central Bank applies its supervisory powers in practice. The market is entering a new era where trust will be built not on promises, but on the transparency of every transaction.