{"id":13112,"date":"2025-10-10T17:54:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T17:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/russia-allows-banks-to-engage-in-crypto-under-tight-rules\/"},"modified":"2025-10-10T17:54:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T17:54:14","slug":"russia-allows-banks-to-engage-in-crypto-under-tight-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/russia-allows-banks-to-engage-in-crypto-under-tight-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia allows banks to engage in crypto under tight rules"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-detail__content blocks\">\n<p class=\"is-style-lead\">The Bank of Russia is reportedly allowing select commercial banks to enter the crypto market under strict supervision. Officials say capital restrictions and transparency rules are essential to prevent systemic risk and regulatory blind spots.<\/p>\n<div id=\"cn-block-summary-block_e448ca2d2e24d324cf7810d358ef1539\" class=\"cn-block-summary\">\n<div class=\"cn-block-summary__nav tabs\">\n        <span class=\"tabs__item is-selected\">Summary<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"cn-block-summary__content\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Russia is reportedly allowing select commercial banks to handle crypto under strict capital and transparency rules to limit systemic risk.<\/li>\n<li>The decision builds on an experimental 2025 crypto regime permitting wealthy individuals and corporations to use digital assets for cross-border settlements.<\/li>\n<li>The move comes amid mounting sanctions and ruble instability, as Russia explores controlled crypto adoption to ease financial pressure.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- .cn-block-summary --><\/p>\n<p>According to a local <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bits.media\/bank-rossii-opredelilsya-s-dopuskom-bankov-k-kriptooperatsiyam\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">report<\/a> on Oct. 10, the Bank of Russia, led by First Deputy Chairman Vladimir Chistyukhin, has finalized a framework to permit a limited cohort of commercial banks to engage in cryptocurrency transactions.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cWe maintain a conservative view and are considering the appropriateness of the banking sector\u2019s inclusion of cryptocurrency in its assets. After discussions with the professional banking community, we concluded that excluding banks from such operations would be unjustified,\u201d Chistyukhin said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The carefully negotiated policy mandates strict capital limits and robust reserve requirements, effectively preventing institutions from making digital assets a core part of their business in Russia.<\/p>\n<p>Per the report, Chistyukhin emphasized that all existing anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing regulations will be rigorously applied, placing the onus on banks and exchanges to identify clients, trace fund origins, and block any noncompliant activity.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Russia\u2019s pivot amid test framework and mounting sanctions pressure<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The Bank of Russia\u2019s latest decision builds upon an experimental legal regime for crypto transactions launched earlier in 2025, which already permits a select group of wealthy individuals and corporations to utilize digital assets for international settlements.<\/p>\n<p>Eligibility for that program is exclusive, requiring individuals to hold a minimum of 100 million rubles in deposits and securities and have an annual income above 50 million rubles. The program, framed as a test of \u201cdigital settlement efficiency,\u201d was a signal that Russia\u2019s position on crypto was shifting from prohibition to containment.<\/p>\n<p>That shift is now accelerating. Chistyukhin and Governor Elvira Nabiullina have urged lawmakers to fast-track a comprehensive cryptocurrency bill by 2026 that would create a licensing system for exchanges and clarify the legal status of crypto service providers.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Sanctions pressure<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The urgency is driven by pressure from Russia\u2019s financial sector, which has lobbied for eased restrictions as Western sanctions persist and the ruble faces ongoing instability. The clear, albeit unstated, goal is to develop alternative financial channels that can operate outside the reach of the U.S. dollar-dominated global system.<\/p>\n<p>This environment has catalyzed the stunning rise of the A7A5 stablecoin, a ruble-pegged digital asset that has ballooned to a $500 million market cap despite its issuers, including the sanctioned Russian bank PSB, facing international designations.<\/p>\n<p>Its explosive growth, making it the world\u2019s largest non-dollar stablecoin, has captured global attention and raised alarms that it is becoming a key tool for sanctioned entities in Russia to facilitate cross-border trade.<\/p>\n<p>Despite facing intense regulatory scrutiny, A7A5 executive Oleg Ogienko has publicly defended the Russia-linked stablecoin. In recent comments, he insisted the stablecoin is a legitimate payments tool operating in compliance with Kyrgyzstan\u2019s laws and has \u201cnothing to do with money laundering.\u201d He claims its adoption is surging in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, facilitating \u201cbillions of dollars\u201d in trade for Russian firms and their partners.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Bank of Russia is reportedly allowing select commercial banks to enter the crypto market under strict supervision. Officials say capital restrictions and transparency rules are essential to prevent systemic&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13112"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13114,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13112\/revisions\/13114"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}