Russia’s State Duma approves criminal liability for illegal crypto exchange

The State Duma has passed in the first reading a bill that would introduce criminal liability for the illegal organization of digital currency exchange. For PSPs and operators touching crypto rails, the practical question is simple: where the line sits between permitted activity and a criminal offense.

1. The bill covers the organization of cryptocurrency exchange both for cash and by non-cash settlement. In other words, the wording is aimed not just at informal cash desks, but at structured exchange activity more broadly.
2. For a first offense, the proposed penalties are a fine of 100,000 to 300,000 rubles, compulsory labor, or up to 4 years in prison, with an additional fine in some cases.
3. If the offense is committed by an organized criminal group, or is tied to especially large income or damage, the punishment rises to up to 7 years in prison and a fine of up to 1 million rubles.
4. The bill defines large-scale income as over 3.5 million rubles and especially large income as over 13.5 million rubles. That matters because thresholds like these tend to become the line prosecutors actually use when deciding what gets escalated.
5. One open point remains: the text does not clearly explain how personal crypto exchange differs from the illegal organization of digital currency circulation. Until that is clarified, the compliance risk is not just legal but operational, because businesses have to decide which activities fall inside the perimeter.

The two bills on liability are expected to enter into force on 1 July 2027. The main regulation is scheduled to take effect on 1 September 2026, with the period between those dates described by the authorities as transitional time for market participants to bring their activities into line with the law.