Russia’s Finance Ministry will not allow non-custodial crypto wallets for retail users

Russia’s Finance Ministry says non-custodial crypto wallets may be allowed only for a limited number of legal entities, not for retail investors. For PSPs and crypto businesses, the key point is simple: the legal route would still run through identification-heavy, state-visible infrastructure.

1. Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov said unnamed market participants want both custodial and non-custodial wallets to remain available “in the legal circuit,” but the ministry is not ready to accept use of crypto addresses that are not under state control, even for a limited number of organizations.
2. Chebeskov said experimental legal regimes could be considered later: “Why not conduct a legislative experiment in this regard after we have some law-enforcement practice? We can try to see what happens.” The sequence matters. First, the state wants practical enforcement experience; only then does it entertain a broader test.
3. A non-custodial wallet means the user holds the access keys and is solely responsible for safeguarding the funds. It does not require identification or personal data. A custodial wallet, by contrast, splits access and storage responsibility between the asset owner and a third party such as an exchange or broker, with intermediaries and authorities performing user verification and having access to the assets.
4. The ministry says it does not plan to ban holding crypto in non-custodial wallets. But assets can be withdrawn from legal Russian crypto depositaries and exchanges only to custodial wallets with mandatory client identification. Officials also say cryptoassets cannot be sent from a Russian custodial wallet to a non-custodial wallet abroad, citing transparency requirements for transactions.
5. The government bill “On Digital Currency and Digital Rights” has passed the State Duma in the first reading and is now being prepared for the second. One proposal in the next version is additional fees on transactions with certain cryptocurrencies, including the USDT stablecoin. The ministry says such fees and other restrictions are meant to push Russian users away from these assets.

For high-risk operators, the practical message is that Russia is building a legal crypto framework around identification, custody control, and transaction visibility. That narrows the usable flow for exchanges, brokers, and payment providers that would otherwise prefer wallet setups with less intermediary oversight.