The Bank of Russia is preparing to let mutual investment funds buy cryptocurrency derivatives, removing a restriction that has kept Russia’s $13 billion digital financial asset market separate from its growing crypto derivatives sector. The regulatory shift pairs with the September 1 launch of the digital rouble, which requires 12 systemically important banks and major retailers to accept the central bank digital currency.
Olga Shishlyannikova, director of the monetary authority’s Investment Finance Intermediation Department, confirmed the plan at a financial industry forum in Yekaterinburg. She told RBC Investments that amendments to the regulation are required and the bank plans to complete them in the first quarter of 2026. The current rules explicitly prohibit capital management firms from purchasing crypto-linked instruments, a restriction that only the full regulatory framework can lift. Her deputy, Valery Krasinsky, first announced the CBR was considering the move at a capital markets forum in September, saying the regulator intends to level the playing field for funds and let them offer investors crypto derivatives just like brokers do today.
Russia’s approach to crypto has followed a two-track logic. The central bank has consistently opposed direct retail crypto ownership, warning investors about the risk of total loss. At the same time, it has quietly built infrastructure for institutional participation. In May 2025, the CBR authorized financial firms to offer derivative instruments, securities, and digital financial assets tied to Bitcoin and Ethereum prices. Brokers can now sell these products to qualified investors, but mutual funds remain locked out until the regulatory amendment goes through.
Deputy governor Vladimir Chistyukhin signaled in October that the CBR also plans to permit commercial banks to work with cryptocurrencies directly, though no timeline has been set for that step. The derivatives amendment is the more immediate change, and it would effectively level the playing field between brokers and fund managers who want to offer clients crypto exposure through regulated channels rather than unlicensed platforms.
The digital rouble, which became mandatory on September 1, represents the other side of Russia’s digital finance strategy. Governor Elvira Nabiullina said the 12 systemically important banks must support digital rouble payments from the launch date. Retailers who bank with those lenders and booked more than 120 million rubles in revenue last year must accept the CBDC from the same date. Clients can open digital rouble accounts through their banking apps, though only the central bank can create wallets at launch. An offline payment function has been tested but is not yet available to the public.
The EU has responded with sanctions. The 20th sanctions package adopted in April banned support for the digital rouble alongside ruble-backed tokens and Russian crypto service providers. The package also targeted the RUBx stablecoin used in cross-border trade and the A7A5 ecosystem, which Chainalysis said has processed $119.7 billion to date. A 21st package last month widened the crypto restrictions further, cutting off more pathways for Russian digital asset activity in Western markets.
Russia’s crypto market has grown despite Western pressure. The country is now Europe’s largest crypto market, processing over $376 billion in transaction volume annually. The Moscow Exchange launched its own derivatives tracking Bitcoin and Ethereum prices, products that mirror U.S. ETF structures but operate under Russian regulatory rules. Crypto derivatives trading volume on MOEX hit $636 million in September, a record that shows strong retail and institutional demand for regulated crypto exposure. Analysts expect this market to grow further in 2026 as more Russian investors seek domestic alternatives to sanctioned international platforms.
The digital financial asset market has also expanded rapidly. DFAs, Russia’s tokenized asset class, grew by over a third to reach $13 billion in 2025, according to central bank estimates. Issuers have released tokens tied to commodities ranging from cocoa beans to St. Petersburg real estate. Yields on short-term DFAs exceeded short-term bond yields by an average of 1.7% this year, making them attractive to investors seeking alternatives to sanctioned Western financial products. State Duma commission head Anatoly Aksakov has said boosting the DFA market will be a key economic priority for Moscow in 2026, with regulatory clarity expected to draw more institutional capital into tokenized instruments over the coming months.
The dual push into derivatives and the digital rouble reflects Moscow’s broader strategy of building parallel financial infrastructure. Russian investors cannot access U.S. Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs due to sanctions, so the domestic market has developed its own versions. The derivatives amendment would bring fund managers into this ecosystem, potentially unlocking billions in institutional capital that has been sitting on the sidelines while waiting for regulatory clarity.
Russia will also begin rolling out its digital rouble from September alongside a new universal QR code for payments across the country. The central bank is testing smart-contract functionality for business payments and has piloted conditional disbursement of government funds in Tatarstan. Public demand for the digital rouble remains weak, but the mandate ensures adoption among the country’s largest financial institutions regardless of consumer enthusiasm in the near term.
The regulatory trajectory points toward a more open Russian crypto market by mid-2026. The derivatives amendment, combined with the digital rouble rollout and potential bank access to crypto, would create a domestic ecosystem that operates independently of Western financial infrastructure. For global crypto markets, Russia’s $376 billion annual volume represents a significant pool of demand that is increasingly routed through domestic platforms rather than international exchanges.
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