Russia's Central Bank Releases First Regulatory Draft for "Organized Trading" of Digital Assets

Odaily News: The Central Bank of Russia has released a regulatory draft for "organized trading" of digital assets and digital rights, aiming to set access and operational rules for cryptocurrency exchanges and digital custodians. The draft requires exchanges to determine trading procedures through their own rulebooks and calculate market prices and volume-weighted average prices. It proposes the establishment of digital custodians responsible for bookkeeping, with a registered capital requirement between 50 million and 250 million rubles, and assets must be highly liquid and of high credit quality. Electronic platform operators must also meet similar capital requirements and assume settlement functions for nominal accounts of digital financial assets. The draft has entered the regulatory impact assessment stage, aligning with previously passed crypto market legislation. While continuing to ban the domestic use of cryptocurrencies for payments, it provides a framework for compliant retail trading.