Central Bank of Russia: Cryptocurrency Storage Will Be Available Beyond Just Banks, 2026/02/20 10:53:05

The head of the financial market infrastructure department at the Bank of Russia, Kirill Pronin, stated that companies without a regulator’s license will be able to engage in the storage and management of cryptocurrencies.

A representative from the Central Bank indicated that firms aspiring to operate as custodians of digital assets will not be required to obtain a banking license.

“There is no connection to a banking license here. Just as today in the traditional market, we have depositories that include both licensed banks and credit organizations without such licenses. I believe the approach will be quite similar,” the official explained.

At the end of December 2025, the Bank of Russia introduced a concept for regulating the cryptocurrency market. The authors of the document propose to recognize cryptocurrencies and stablecoins as monetary values. This would enable the legalization of buying and selling digital assets while maintaining a ban on their use as a means of payment within the country. According to the concept, a limit on cryptocurrency purchases will be set for non-qualified investors—those who have not passed a special exam—capped at 300,000 rubles per year per operator.

For qualified investors, there are no volume restrictions; however, they too will be prohibited from acquiring anonymous cryptocurrencies.

Previously, the head of the strategic development department of the financial market at the Bank of Russia, Ekaterina Lozgacheva, discussed the requirements her agency intends to impose on cryptocurrency exchanges and crypto exchanges.