The Bank of Russia does not intend to abandon the publication of registries of digital depositories and crypto exchanges, despite the obvious sanctions risks. Clients will retain the ability to verify the legality of a service, and companies will have to accept full transparency.
There will be no exceptions, even for platforms that plan to serve exclusively legal entities. For businesses, this means continued sanctions risks, but the regulator expects market participants to learn to work with them — just as the traditional financial sector has already done.
Why the regulator does not hide market participants
The requirements for entering the registry and disclosing data are unified for all participants, so information about each of them is subject to public disclosure. An open registry is needed primarily by clients: it allows them to verify, before transferring funds, that the company with which a transaction is being made is indeed included in the Bank of Russia's registry. For an investor, this is a simple way to filter out dubious services before transferring money.
The regulator emphasizes that the traditional financial market has long faced sanctions risks and has already learned to live under these conditions. It is expected that crypto market participants will also be able to adapt to the new realities.
How else order is being established in the crypto market
The public registry is not the only supervisory tool. In parallel, NAUFOR received the status of a self-regulatory organization for digital depositories and crypto exchanges. The association will develop standards for companies, monitor their compliance, and represent the industry's interests before the regulator. As a result, clients receive additional oversight, and businesses get another inspector.
The difference between legal and shadow services is also visible in the actions of law enforcement agencies: Interior Ministry officers shut down five crypto exchanges through which the organizers of a darknet drug marketplace withdrew proceeds into fiat money. Police obtained data on more than 185,000 cryptocurrency transactions and are now searching for the remaining members of the community, including clients of these services.
Cryptalist analysis: The Bank of Russia's decision reflects a strategic choice in favor of transparency as the foundation of trust in the market — even at the cost of sanctions vulnerability for individual participants. For institutional players, this is a signal that the regulator places the sector's long-term legitimacy above short-term protection from external restrictions. In the long run, such an approach contributes to market consolidation around large, compliance-ready platforms.