Russia's Daily Crypto Turnover Reached $650 Million

Russia’s Finance Ministry says crypto activity in the country has reached about 50 billion rubles ($650M) per day, putting annual turnover at more than 10 trillion rubles (~$130.5B). Officials argue that most of it is still happening outside any formal regulatory perimeter.

The estimate was presented by Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov at the Alfa Talk conference, RBC reported. Chebeskov said the scale of transactions is large enough that regulators can no longer treat it as a marginal “gray zone” issue.

Crypto Market Bill Heads to the Duma

Against that backdrop, the government and the Bank of Russia are pressing to move a cryptocurrency market bill through the State Duma’s spring session, aiming to channel trading and intermediation into licensed structures. Vladimir Chistyukhin, first deputy chairman of the central bank, said both the government and the regulator want the legislation approved within that window.

Under the proposed framework, already-licensed financial players, such as exchanges and brokers, would be allowed to expand into crypto services, including spot trading, while crypto exchange offices would fall under a dedicated licensing regime. Authorities also plan to introduce penalties for unlicensed intermediaries to squeeze out informal market participants.

MOEX Signals Next Steps in Crypto

Russia’s main venue operator is already positioning itself for broader crypto exposure. The Moscow Exchange (MOEX) currently lists cash-settled bitcoin and ether futures and has signaled plans to add futures on SOL, XRP, and TRX. The bill would potentially open a path for MOEX and brokers to compete in spot markets as well, though participation would be split between qualified and non-qualified investors, with tighter limits expected for the latter.

Offshore Platforms Dominate a Large Share of Russian Flows

Regulators say the offshore footprint remains significant. The Bank of Russia’s financial stability report estimated that Russian users held around 933B rubles (~$11.9B) on global crypto exchanges in mid-2025, platforms that aren’t regulated domestically. MOEX Supervisory Board Chairman Sergey Shvetsov claimed Russians pay roughly $15B per year in commissions to foreign crypto platforms, and said local venues would “compete with the gray sector” once legally permitted.

Russia Remains Europe’s Largest Crypto Market

Separate market sizing also points to Russia as a heavyweight in Europe. Chainalysis estimates that from July 2024 to June 2025, Russia received $376.3B in crypto, well ahead of the UK’s $273.2B, with Germany and Ukraine the only other European countries above $200B over the same period.