Russia Processes $650M in Crypto Daily as New Regulations Advance

Russia’s Ministry of Finance estimates that the country’s cryptocurrency market processes around 50 billion rubles per day, roughly $650 million. Every year, that exceeds 10 trillion rubles, or about $130.5 billion.

Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov shared this data during the Alfa Talk conference. He said most of this crypto trading happens outside government regulation, which raises concerns for authorities.

Chebeskov warned that unregulated crypto activity poses financial risks and prevents the government from collecting potential tax revenue.

Government Pushes for Crypto Rules

The Russian government and the Bank of Russia are working to pass a crypto regulation bill during the State Duma’s spring session.

Vladimir Chistyukhin, First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank, confirmed that officials want to approve the bill soon. The new law would allow licensed financial institutions to offer crypto services legally.

Under the proposal, existing exchanges and brokerage firms could provide spot crypto trading, not just derivatives.

The Moscow Exchange (MOEX), which already offers futures contracts for Bitcoin and Ether, plans to expand into futures for Solana, XRP, and TRON. It may also enter the spot crypto market once regulations are in place.

Both qualified and retail investors would be allowed to participate, though retail investors may face limits. Crypto exchange offices would need special licenses, and authorities plan to penalize unlicensed operators.

Russian Capital Moving to Foreign Exchanges

The Bank of Russia reported that Russian users held about 933 billion rubles (around $11.9 billion) on foreign crypto exchanges as of mid-2025. These platforms are not regulated in Russia.

Sergey Shvetsov, Chairman of the Moscow Exchange’s Supervisory Board, said Russian investors pay about $15 billion each year in trading commissions to global crypto exchanges. He added that global crypto platforms generate around $50 billion annually in commissions, with Russian traders accounting for a large share.

Russia Leads Europe in Crypto Activity

Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis ranks Russia as the largest crypto market in Europe. Between July 2024 and June 2025, Russia received about $376.3 billion in crypto inflows, surpassing the United Kingdom and other European countries.

With such large volumes, Russian authorities want to bring crypto trading under domestic control, increase tax collection, and reduce reliance on unregulated platforms.