Russia’s central bank has identified and blacklisted 2,600 cryptocurrency wallets linked to illegal financial activity and fraud, integrating the flagged addresses into the risk-assessment systems used by domestic financial institutions. Banks and other financial entities are now required to freeze or block transactions connected to these wallets. The total value of cryptocurrency that flowed into the blacklisted addresses is estimated at about 1 billion rubles, or roughly $11 million at current exchange rates.
The move is part of Moscow’s broader effort to regulate digital assets and curb money laundering. It comes as Russia prepares to legalize cryptocurrency transactions under the new law “On Digital Currency and Digital Rights”, which was adopted by parliament in July, signed by President Vladimir Putin in early August, and will enter into force on September 1, 2026. The framework will allow traditional banks and brokers to operate in the crypto space under their existing licenses, while introducing licensing for crypto platforms and a new category of participants called digital depositories.
According to Vladislav Kochetkov, chairman of the management board at financial group Finam, sanctions could turn Russia into an isolated market for “tainted” cryptocurrencies that international counterparties will not want to touch. He told TASS that coins traded in Russia may therefore be offered at a significant discount to global prices, creating a separate, isolated price circuit. Finam plans to join the regulated Russian crypto market as both a broker and a crypto exchanger.
Under the new rules, non-professional investors will gain a legal path to invest in the most liquid and capitalized digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether’s USDT, but investments will be capped at less than $4,000 per year per intermediary. Kochetkov expects the Russian market to be speculative, rigid, and fully functional, although it departs from the classic crypto ideology of free movement without intermediaries.
