Russia's State Duma approved a new crypto law on July 21, 2026, that puts a hard annual cap on retail investors. Non-qualified individuals can buy no more than 300,000 rubles — roughly $3,800 — worth of cryptocurrency per year. The law also forces them to pass a knowledge test and stick to a single licensed intermediary.
The $3,800 cap and the test
The cap applies to total annual purchases, not portfolio size or per-asset limits. That means a retail investor who buys $3,800 worth of Bitcoin in January can't buy any more crypto for the rest of the year — even if prices drop. To qualify for any purchase at all, retail investors must first pass a knowledge test. The test is meant to ensure they understand the risks. Only the most liquid cryptocurrencies, as defined by regulators, will be available for purchase.
What's banned, what's not
The law keeps the existing ban on using crypto for domestic payments inside Russia. You still can't buy a coffee with Bitcoin. But cross-border crypto use for businesses — exporters and importers — has no hard cap. That carve-out is a nod to companies that need to move money around sanctions and payment bottlenecks. The bill, numbered 1194918-8, covers both 'digital currency' and 'digital rights' under its framework.
One intermediary to track it all
Retail purchases must go through a single licensed intermediary. That intermediary is responsible for tracking the annual cap across all transactions. If an investor tries to buy through a second exchange, the system should flag it. The idea is to create a single point of oversight — and a single point of failure, critics might say. The law doesn't name which exchanges qualify; that's left to regulators to decide during the transition period.
Timeline and what comes next
Main provisions take effect on September 1, 2026. Market participants get a transition period until July 1, 2027, to comply with the new rules. That's nearly a year for exchanges to set up the tracking systems and for regulators to publish the list of approved liquid assets. The Duma has passed the law, but the real work — rulemaking, licensing, testing — starts now.
