Advertising crypto services in Russia: a strange transition period and new rules of the game
Starting September 1, 2026, Russia will allow advertising of services related to organizing cryptocurrency circulation for the first time in two years. However, the ban on advertising digital currencies themselves remains in place. This creates a unique and, at first glance, contradictory situation in the market, which I have analyzed in detail.
The logic of the 2024 ban
Until recently, the answer to the question about advertising cryptocurrencies and related services was extremely simple: it is prohibited. Since August 19, 2024, Federal Law No. 221-FZ introduced a broad ban—on advertising digital currency itself, as well as goods, works, and services related to organizing its circulation or directly to its circulation. The ban also extended to offering digital currency to an unlimited circle of people.
In practice, this meant that it was impossible to write "Buy USDT at a favorable rate" or "Exchange Bitcoin in 15 minutes," as well as to advertise a crypto exchange as a place for exchanging. The wording turned out to be so broad that the effect quickly extended far beyond the exchanges themselves. The example with mining is telling: in August 2024, the state effectively legalized this activity, establishing requirements for miners and creating a separate regulated regime for them. However, Yandex.Direct at the same time updated its rules and banned advertising of mining, crypto exchanges, blockchain, smart contracts, ICOs, and a number of other services. The result was a strange effect: the state allowed mining, but the largest advertising platform almost immediately banned advertising it.
From a legal standpoint, the 2024 ban was quite logical: at that time, Russia completely lacked regulation of organizing cryptocurrency circulation. Therefore, the state effectively prohibited advertising this until a legal regime emerged.
What changes in September
Now such a regime has emerged. Federal Law No. 282-FZ of 04.08.2026 "On Digital Currencies and Digital Rights" and Federal Law No. 283-FZ have been adopted. The first creates a regulated framework for organizing cryptocurrency circulation and defines its legal participants. The second restructures a large number of related laws, including the Advertising Law. Both laws were officially published on August 4, 2026.
Starting September 1, 2026, the ban on advertising digital currency itself remains in effect. Advertising Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT, or any other specific digital currency is still prohibited. It is not allowed to make BTC the "asset of the week," offer to "buy USDT today," or promise growth of a specific coin.
However, advertising services for organizing the circulation of digital currencies is now permitted. Unlike in 2024, the state has created a regulated framework: rules for organizing circulation have been defined, and conditions for obtaining the statuses of legal crypto exchanges, digital depositories, and other participants have been established. Banning these participants from informing the market about their services would seem strange. A separate permitted model for this is created by the new Article 29.2 of the Advertising Law.
Transition period and misalignment
Here lies the curious point. The new advertising conditions begin to apply as early as September 1, 2026, but they only extend to participants in cryptocurrency circulation from the Central Bank's registry. At the same time, the full regime, under which only registry participants are entitled to organize circulation, is activated only on July 1, 2027.
Exchanges can operate under the old rules until that date, but the new advertising conditions do not extend to such players—they are not in the registry, which the Central Bank itself has not yet opened. Thus, the market enters an unusual transition period: the new advertising rules already exist, but the new access infrastructure is only being launched. As of August, the Bank of Russia has published drafts of the procedures for maintaining registries and other necessary acts. This is not a complete legal vacuum—the law specifically provided for transitional mechanisms—but a certain regulatory misalignment is obvious.
My analysis: This situation creates a window of uncertainty for the market. On one hand, advertising services is formally permitted, but only for future registry participants. On the other hand, existing exchanges that do not enter the registry remain in a gray zone. I recommend that market participants closely monitor the Central Bank's publications and prepare documents for entering the registry in advance, so as not to miss competitive advantages in the new regulated field.