The Bank of Russia plans to roll out cryptocurrency infrastructure in stages throughout 2027. Investors will get a legal alternative to foreign exchanges, but the regulator is not yet naming exact dates.
Russian platforms are getting a chance to win back traders who currently trade abroad. At the same time, the Central Bank is not aiming to attract citizens to the crypto market en masse and is betting on the convenience and transparency of services.
The Central Bank expects clients of foreign crypto exchanges to return
Kirill Pronin, Director of the Financial Market Infrastructure Department at the Bank of Russia, said on the sidelines of CryptoSummit when the crypto infrastructure will launch. According to him, it is too early to talk about exact dates, but its deployment will proceed throughout 2027.
The Central Bank expects that the new services will bring traders back from foreign platforms. Pronin noted: "Our crypto infrastructure will be rolled out — 2027. As the infrastructure develops, we hope that those clients who trade on foreign crypto exchanges will return to Russian jurisdiction."
At the same time, the regulator will not chase mass adoption. The head of the department emphasized this at the same summit session dedicated to state regulation of digital currencies: "We do not have the task of making sure that as many clients as possible come and start working with cryptocurrencies."
According to Pronin, the Central Bank must provide an opportunity to work in this market legally, rather than scale up and urge everyone to invest. The regulator, together with market participants, strives to make services convenient and transparent.
What awaits traders in Russian jurisdiction
The Bank of Russia has already described in its FAQ section the strict framework that traders will face after returning from foreign exchanges. Starting July 1, 2027, buying cryptocurrency will be permitted only through licensed intermediaries, direct person-to-person (P2P) transactions will be banned, and the law will not allow withdrawing coins from an account to one's own wallet.
The infrastructure Pronin refers to is already taking shape: on October 6, the Central Bank added the first companies to the registers of crypto market participants, and they must restructure their operations under the new rules by September 1, 2027. The regulator has also prepared draft anti-money laundering rules for digital depositories: cryptocurrency transfers without information about the parties to the operation will have to be rejected.
Special blockchain transaction analysis services will monitor operations in the new legal perimeter: the Ministry of Finance, together with the Central Bank and Rosfinmonitoring, is preparing requirements for providers of such tools. Alexey Yakovlev, Director of the Financial Policy Department of the ministry, clarified that the provider must be under Russian jurisdiction and use certified software, and the ministry expects to decide on the authorized body by the end of 2026.
Cryptalist analysis: The announced timeline creates a clear window of expectations: the market gets a 2027 reference point, but without specific dates, which restrains capital inflow until working licensed intermediaries appear. Strict restrictions — the P2P ban, the inability to withdraw to one's own wallet, and mandatory compliance — reduce attractiveness for experienced traders accustomed to non-custodial solutions. The key factor for the return of liquidity will be not so much the launch of infrastructure as the balance between the convenience of services and the depth of regulatory restrictions.