Russia’s new crypto law caps retail purchases at 300,000 rubles a year and restricts transfers to non-custodial wallets

The State Duma has passed a law meant to become the basis for regulating Russia’s crypto market, and the key detail for payment people is simple: it pushes activity into a tighter custodial framework. Market participants say that may not be enough to attract mass retail capital, especially with sanctions exposure hanging over Russian intermediaries.

1. The law imposes strict limits on transfers to non-custodial wallets. A softer regime exists only for participants in foreign economic activity, and even there transfers to an unadministered wallet are allowed only after 48 hours.
2. For individuals, the purchase cap is set at no more than 300,000 rubles per year through one intermediary. In other words, the retail side is being boxed in pretty tightly on paper.
3. Industry participants say a model based only on a custodial setup is unlikely to bring in a broad retail audience. Their concern is not just product design; it is sanctions risk. Operations through Russian professional participants could draw the attention of Western regulators, with the resulting risk of blocks and investor fund freezes.
4. According to sources cited by Kommersant, that risk could push counterparties to stop working with Russian platforms altogether. If that happens, the practical effect is fewer routes for settlement and custody, not more.
5. Experts quoted in the report expect that the Russian legal market will keep mostly cautious long-term investors, while the most active part of the market continues operating in a foreign jurisdiction.

For PSPs, acquirers, and banking partners, the signal is clear: this is a regime built around tighter control, lower retail throughput, and higher sanctions sensitivity. That combination tends to shrink the addressable market for onshore crypto rails, even before anyone gets to the operational headaches.