Russia’s Comprehensive Crypto Bill Clears First Duma Reading 327-13, Two Votes From Becoming Law

Russia’s State Duma just passed the country’s first comprehensive cryptocurrency regulation bill. The vote wasn’t close: 327 to 13 on first reading. That puts Moscow within striking distance of a legal framework—one that legalizes digital assets for international trade while keeping domestic crypto payments explicitly banned. Just two more readings stand between the bill and the statute books. And CoinTelegraph reports those final votes are scheduled for Tuesday, July 21, 2026. Days away.

The margin tells its own story. Of 340 deputies voting, 327 said yes. A near-unanimous parliamentary consensus, shaped over months of drafting as Western sanctions kept squeezing Russia’s financial system. BBTC$66,817.00▲3.60% Magazine and Binance Square both reported the April 21–22 vote, framing it as a turning point: useful for cross-border settlement, unwelcome inside the domestic economy.

International Trade In, Domestic Payments Out

That split is the bill’s defining feature—and its central tension. Cryptocurrency would be legalized for international trade settlements; a provision that fits neatly into Russia’s ongoing effort to route payments around sanctions-imposed banking restrictions. But the same legislation explicitly prohibits crypto as a domestic payment method. Russian entities could use digital assets to settle cross-border trade obligations, while ordinary consumers and merchants inside the country would still have no legal pathway to buy groceries or pay rent in Bitcoin. The framework introduces formal rules for the circulation of digital assets, replacing a years-long regulatory gray zone.

Exchanges Face a 2027 Licensing Deadline

Exchanges don’t get off easy, either. The bill imposes a licensing regime on cryptocurrency exchanges operating in Russia. Compliance deadline: July 1, 2027, per Caspian Post. Miss that deadline, face closure. The publication reports that most existing crypto exchanges in Russia could be forced to shut down—whatever specific capital, compliance, and reporting standards the final text sets will function as a filter, likely favoring state-aligned or well-capitalized operators over smaller platforms that flourished in the regulatory vacuum. Who survives, and how tightly the survivors are tied to Russian state interests, will determine whether the new framework creates a competitive market or a curated one.

Criminal Penalties Bill Held Back

Notably absent: a companion bill that would criminalize illegal cryptocurrency exchange operations. CryptoRank reported the criminal-penalties legislation was deliberately not finalized before Russia’s parliamentary elections—a sequencing choice that kept the politically sensitive question of prison time for unlicensed crypto activity off the ballot. Bitbo.io adds that Russia’s Supreme Court blocked the companion bill outright, calling it premature until the base digital currency law is formally adopted. So the enabling framework moves forward. The enforcement teeth? They wait in the wings.

The political logic isn’t hard to read. A legalization bill that opens trade-settlement use cases is a positive headline; a bill threatening crypto operators with criminal liability in the same legislative cycle is a much harder sell—particularly in a country where digital assets have become a practical hedge against ruble volatility and banking friction. Staggering the two lets lawmakers claim regulatory progress without immediately antagonizing the domestic crypto-using public or the platforms serving them. It also buys regulators time to define what “illegal” actually means once the licensing regime is in place.

Two Readings Away — and a Tax Bill Too

Decrypt puts the bill at “two votes away” from passage, still requiring a second and third Duma reading. Separately, the State Duma already passed a first reading of a crypto tax bill on June 10, 2026, per CoinTelegraph. Meaning the regulatory package extends beyond licensing and trade settlement into how gains and transactions get reported to tax authorities. Broader than it looks.

Market Backdrop

The market backdrop, for what it’s worth, is subdued. Total crypto market cap sits at approximately $2.32 trillion. Bitcoin is trading at $65,419, with the Fear & Greed Index at 25—firmly in Extreme Fear territory. EETH$1,931.10▲3.20% holds at $1,924, up 2.74% over 24 hours. That macro backdrop matters less for Russia’s legislative calculus than for the global platforms watching: a major economy formalizing crypto trade-settlement rights during a risk-off cycle is a sharp reminder that regulatory momentum and market sentiment don’t have to move together.

For crypto exchanges still operating inside Russia, the July 1, 2027 licensing deadline is the clock that now matters. For the Duma, the next one is Tuesday.