Russia plans to bring its long-awaited crypto market law into force on Sept. 1, 2026, with regulators providing a transition period of nearly 10 months before the framework is fully enforced, a senior central bank official said.

First Deputy Governor Vladimir Chistyukhin told reporters on the sidelines of the Bank of Russia’s Financial Congress that market participants would have until July 1, 2027, to complete the licensing, registration and operational changes required under the new regime.

From that date, the authorities also intend to introduce criminal and administrative liability to separate authorized crypto activities from illegal operations.

The central bank expects to finalize the supporting regulations by October 2026 and submit them to the Justice Ministry for registration, Chistyukhin said, adding that the schedule should enable licensed companies to begin full-scale operations by the end of next year or early 2027.

The proposed legislation, developed by the Bank of Russia and the Finance Ministry, would create a licensed ecosystem comprising crypto exchanges, digital depositories, brokers, management companies and crypto exchangers.

The framework would permit Russians to trade digital assets on domestic exchanges, subject to testing and investment limits for non-qualified investors, while authorised firms would be allowed to provide digital asset custody, crypto trading, fiat conversion and cross-border settlement services.