Russia may ban crypto advertising as part of broader market rules

A draft package in Russia would ban advertising for digital currencies, crypto exchanges, crypto wallets, and crypto exchange services, while leaving room for ads on mining equipment, educational materials, and legal advice. For PSPs and high-risk merchants, the practical point is simple: the line between “crypto-related” and “allowed” promotion is getting narrower, and the penalties are written in.

1. The proposed amendments to the federal advertising law would prohibit ads for digital currencies, crypto exchange services, crypto exchanges, and crypto wallets. The same draft still allows advertising of mining equipment, training materials, and legal consultations.
2. Penalties for violating the ban are set at 2,000 to 2,500 rubles for individuals, 4,000 to 20,000 rubles for officials, and 100,000 to 500,000 rubles for legal entities. In other words, this is not a symbolic restriction; it comes with a defined enforcement framework.
3. The measures are part of a broader bill on regulating the crypto market in Russia. The bill aims to legalize mining, but at the same time would prohibit the organization of digital currency circulation in the country.
4. Under the draft, citizens and companies would be able to buy crypto only through licensed intermediaries, including exchanges, brokers, trust managers, and digital custodians listed in the Bank of Russia register. Rosfinmonitoring supports tight regulation of crypto exchangers, similar to banking rules, to prevent money laundering and financing of criminal activity.
5. The project also covers the use of crypto for cross-border payments, but would ban settlements between residents in crypto outside an experimental legal regime, while also introducing taxation of digital currency transactions. The Bank of Russia’s concept, sent to the government in December 2025, would allow qualified investors to buy crypto assets without restrictions, while non-qualified investors would be limited to 300,000 rubles per year through one intermediary.

The draft is also reported to affect from 500 to several thousand companies and could cut crypto companies’ operating profit by 10-25 billion rubles per year. For anyone selling payment rails, compliance tooling, or advertising access into crypto-adjacent traffic, that is the number that matters.