Cryptocurrency trading in Russia may receive its first formal rules: the Bank of Russia has prepared draft regulations to launch the digital currency and digital rights market.
What Will Change for Organized Trading
The regulator proposes to establish conditions under which exchanges will be able to conduct organized operations with digital currencies and digital rights. The platform’s operating procedures will be described in its rules.
The exchange will have to calculate the market and weighted average price of such instruments. In practice, a cryptocurrency exchange matches buy and sell orders, records transactions, displays prices, and ensures settlements at the end of trading. Such platforms can earn from transaction fees, listing fees, and services for margin trading, so transparent pricing becomes one of the key elements.
Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, and Litecoin in this context act as tradable cryptocurrencies: their common feature is dependence on blockchain infrastructure, and their role for the platform is to serve as instruments for which a clear market and weighted average price must be shown.
Requirements for Digital Depositories
The Bank of Russia has also prepared requirements for digital depositories. The main points are summarized as follows.
- digital depositories will account for digital currencies and digital rights;
- the minimum capital must range from 50 million to 250 million rubles;
- the amount of own funds will depend on the depository’s operating model;
- when calculating, it will be considered whether the organization intends to interact with open distributed ledgers and ensure settlements at the end of trading;
- own funds must be formed from liquid assets;
- financial assets included in own funds must have high credit quality.
Who Will Handle Accounting and Settlements
The regulator is introducing similar requirements for electronic platform operators. These functions can be performed by information system operators. They will conduct settlements on digital financial assets through a nominal account.
The Bank of Russia will also take on key accounting rules.
- The Bank of Russia will maintain a register of digital depositories;
- the regulator will define rules for accounting digital currencies and digital rights;
- it will form a list of information about depositors;
- recipient access to the system will be accounted for separately;
- assets accounted for on such platforms will also be described.
In addition, the regulator will set requirements for opening and maintaining digital and other accounts. In practice, this should separate the accounting of digital assets from the usual logic of banking transactions.
Why This Matters for the Digital Asset Market
The emergence of rules for depositories and organized platforms could become the foundation for a more transparent market infrastructure. In the crypto industry, where the market capitalization of major assets changes with demand, regulation of accounting and settlements plays a significant role.
Transparent rules for accounting, settlements, and trading help the digital asset market rely not only on technology but also on procedures that are clear to participants.
Digital currencies are technically based on cryptography: such systems use hash functions, and the very idea of decentralized settlements became widely known after Satoshi Nakamoto’s publications about Bitcoin. The Russian draft regulations do not change this technological nature but set the framework for accounting, trading, and the operation of market participants.
