Advertising crypto services in Russia: a strange transition period and new rules of the game
From September 1, 2026, new rules come into force in Russia that, for the first time in two years, will allow advertising services for organizing cryptocurrency circulation. However, the ban on advertising the digital currencies themselves remains. This creates an extremely unusual situation in the market, which I have analyzed in detail.
The logic of the 2024 ban
Until recently, the answer to the question about cryptocurrency advertising was extremely simple: it is prohibited. Federal Law No. 221-FZ of August 19, 2024, introduced a broad ban on advertising digital currencies, as well as goods, works, and services related to organizing their circulation. In practice, this meant that one could not write "Buy USDT at a favorable rate" or "Exchange Bitcoin in 15 minutes." The wording turned out to be so broad that the effect extended far beyond the exchangers themselves.
The example of mining is illustrative. In the same August 2024, the state legalized this activity, creating a separate regulated regime for miners. However, Yandex.Direct almost simultaneously updated its rules and banned advertising for mining, crypto exchangers, blockchain, smart contracts, and ICOs. A paradox emerged: the state allowed mining, but the largest advertising platform banned its promotion. Currently, Yandex's rules permit advertising of equipment and cloud resources for mining, but the exchangers themselves and mining as an activity remain prohibited.
What changes in September
Now a regulated regime has emerged. Federal Laws No. 282-FZ and No. 283-FZ of August 4, 2026, were adopted and officially published. The first creates the regulated organization of cryptocurrency circulation itself, while the second restructures related laws, including the Advertising Law.
From September 1, 2026, the ban on advertising the digital currency itself remains. One cannot make BTC the "asset of the week," offer to "buy USDT today," or promise growth of a specific coin. But advertising services for organizing circulation is now permitted. The state has created a framework: rules are defined, and conditions are established for obtaining the statuses of legal crypto exchangers and other participants. It would be strange to prohibit them from informing the market about their services. New Article 29.2 of the Advertising Law creates a separate permitted model for this.
The transition period and its nuances
Here an interesting point arises. The new advertising conditions begin to apply already from September 1, 2026, but they extend only to participants in cryptocurrency circulation from the Central Bank register. The full regime, under which only register participants are entitled to organize circulation, is activated only from July 1, 2027.
Exchangers can operate under the old rules until that date, but the new advertising conditions do not apply to them—they are not in the register, which the Central Bank itself has not yet opened. The market finds itself in an unusual transition period: the new rules already exist, but the new licensing infrastructure is only being launched. The Bank of Russia has published draft procedures for maintaining the registers, so this is not a complete legal vacuum, but the regulatory inconsistency is obvious.
My analysis: This situation creates a window of opportunity for those who manage to obtain status in the Central Bank register. However, until the official launch of the register, the market will remain in limbo, which could lead to a rise in gray schemes. I recommend that market participants closely monitor the Central Bank's by-laws and not rush into aggressive advertising campaigns until full clarity is achieved.