Bank of Russia Proposes a Controlled Crypto-Investment Regime for Wealthy Investors
Russia's central bank proposed a three-year experimental legal regime that would let a narrow group of wealthy individuals and qualified companies buy and sell cryptocurrencies while continuing to prohibit their use for domestic payments.
On March 12, 2025, the Bank of Russia proposed an experimental legal regime that would permit a limited class of 'highly qualified' investors and companies to trade cryptocurrencies under controlled conditions for three years.
The proposal did not legalize cryptocurrency as domestic money. The central bank continued to oppose using digital assets for payments inside Russia, and the plan contemplated high wealth and income thresholds for individual participants. Its significance was instead the creation of a possible regulated investment channel in a jurisdiction whose central bank had long taken a restrictive stance toward private cryptocurrencies.
For Bitcoin users and markets, the proposal marked a policy shift from broad restriction toward bounded access. It also emerged while Russia was experimenting with digital assets in cross-border finance, making March 2025 a period in which investment access and international settlement were both being reconsidered.