Crypto advertising in Russia: a strange transition period between prohibition and legalization
The Russian digital asset market is entering an extremely unusual phase. Starting September 1, 2026, advertising of services related to organizing cryptocurrency circulation will be permitted in the country for the first time in two years. However, a direct ban on promoting the digital currencies themselves remains in place. This creates a paradoxical situation that I would call a "regulatory half-life."
Until recently, the answer to the question about advertising cryptocurrencies and related services was extremely simple: it is prohibited. Federal Law No. 221-FZ, which came into force on August 19, 2024, introduced a broad ban on advertising digital currency, as well as goods, works, and services associated with organizing its circulation. The wording proved so comprehensive that not only exchangers but also adjacent industries were affected.
Why the 2024 ban was logical
In practice, this meant it was impossible to write "Buy USDT at a favorable rate" or "Exchange Bitcoin in 15 minutes." The case of mining is illustrative: in August 2024, the state effectively legalized this activity by creating a separate regulated regime, but the largest advertising platform — Yandex.Direct — simultaneously banned advertising for mining, crypto exchangers, blockchain, smart contracts, and ICOs. An absurd situation emerged: the state allowed the activity, while advertising platforms strangled it.
Today, Yandex's rules permit advertising of equipment and cloud resources for mining, educational materials, and events, but crypto exchangers themselves and mining as an activity remain on the list of prohibited categories. Notably, the market has been living its own life all this time: in public listings of exchangers, users are directly offered to buy and sell USDT, BTC, ETH, compare rates, and choose a service.
If we set aside emotions, the 2024 ban was absolutely logical from a legal standpoint. At that time, Russia had no regulation whatsoever for organizing cryptocurrency circulation. Therefore, the state effectively prohibited advertising it 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 numerous related laws, including the Advertising Law. Both were officially published on August 4, 2026.
From September 1, 2026, the ban on advertising digital currency itself remains in effect. You cannot make BTC the "asset of the week," offer to "buy USDT today," or promise growth for a specific coin. However, advertising services for organizing the circulation of digital currencies is now permitted. The state has created a regulated framework: rules have been defined, and conditions have been established for obtaining the statuses of legal crypto exchangers, digital depositories, and other participants. It would be strange to prohibit these players from informing the market about their services. A separate permitted model for this is created by the new Article 29.2 of the Advertising Law.
Here lies the main nuance. The new advertising conditions take effect as early as September 1, 2026, but they apply only to cryptocurrency circulation participants from the Central Bank's registry. The full regime, under which only registry participants are entitled to organize circulation, activates only on July 1, 2027.
Exchangers can operate under the old rules until that date, but the new advertising conditions do not apply to such players — they are not in the registry, which the Central Bank itself has not yet opened.
The market enters an unusual transition period: new rules already exist, but the new licensing infrastructure is just being launched. As of August, the Bank of Russia published draft 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 desynchronization is evident here.
My analysis: This two-phase model is a deliberate step by the regulator to avoid market shock. But in practice, it creates a gray zone: illegal exchangers will continue advertising by circumventing the rules, while legal participants that emerge later will gain a competitive advantage only after 2027. In the end, those who can adapt to the new requirements in advance will win, not those who wait for full clarity.