Know for a coin: the 300k limit will affect only 10% of Russian crypto investors

Russians have introduced a limit of 300 thousand for investments in crypto, but it will not affect 90% of investors, experts interviewed by Izvestia believe. They also expect the threshold to be raised further. The bill on the regulation of digital currencies was adopted by the State Duma on July 21. For the first time, the document creates comprehensive rules for the market: cryptocurrencies are recognized as property, and exchanges, exchangers and brokers will be able to operate only after being included in the register of the Central Bank. Whether it will be possible to completely bring the sector out of the shadows is in the Izvestia article.

What will Change for Crypto Investors

The law adopted by the State Duma on July 21 creates for the first time a full-fledged legal basis for the circulation of cryptocurrencies in Russia. According to Anatoly Aksakov, head of the State Duma Committee on the financial market, the daily turnover of the cryptocurrency market has already reached 50 billion rubles, and the annual turnover is about 10 trillion rubles.

The Bank of Russia will become the unified regulator of the industry, will keep registers of exchanges, exchangers, brokers and digital depositories, and Russians will be able to legally buy cryptocurrencies through the Russian infrastructure.

The new rules should come into force on September 1. At the same time, the law introduces a transitional period for market participants until July 1, 2027. During this time, they must obtain licenses and bring their work in line with the new requirements.

Both qualified and unskilled investors will retain access to digital currencies, but the latter will have to undergo risk awareness testing. They also have a limit of 300 thousand rubles per year through one intermediary and a limit on the list of available cryptocurrencies.

This will affect no more than 10% of investors, according to financial advisor and founder of Rodin.Capital Alexey Rodin. According to him, on average, Russians invest about 190-250 thousand rubles in the crypt.

The limit will be too low only for active traders, agreed Denis Astafyev, fund manager and founder of the SharesPro fintech platform. However, such people usually have the status of a qualified investor, so the bill will not restrict them. The threshold will suit about 90% of non-residents, he believes.

Nevertheless, market participants consider this limit to be an initial restriction rather than a final regulatory model. The threshold of 300 thousand rubles looks too low and actually narrows the access of private investors to the new asset class, according to Bitbanker financial analyst Andrey Poroshin. In his opinion, a more reasonable guideline at the first stage would be a limit of at least 1 million rubles. Guzel Protsenko, CEO of Alfa-Forex, agrees with him. She expects that the threshold will be significantly increased within a year or two.

Dmitry Tselishchev, Managing Director of the investment company Rikom-Trust, gives a more cautious assessment. In his opinion, 300 thousand rubles is enough to launch the market and test a new regulatory model, but this will not be enough for further development of the direction. In the future, the limit may be increased to the deposit insurance level of 1.4 million rubles in one or two years, the expert believes.

The mechanism for reviewing the limit is already laid down in the legislation, since its size will be determined by the Bank of Russia in its regulatory act, said Dmitry Marinichev, Internet ombudsman and expert at the Stolypin Institute of Growth Economics. This approach will allow the regulator to change restrictions without making new amendments to the law.

The ability to adjust requirements as the market develops is considered an advantage of the new model at Digital Broker. Delegating the issue to the Bank of Russia will make it possible to adapt regulation to the real demand of investors and international standards, the company noted.

Now Russian investors can already invest in foreign crypto platforms without such limits, so the professional community advocates expanding opportunities within the country, said Dmitry Lesnov, Deputy General Director for brokerage at Finam. According to him, a more realistic scenario at the first stage would be to increase the threshold to 600,000 — 1 million rubles, but it will be possible to return to this issue after evaluating the work of the new market.

What risks remain for the owners of the crypt

The mere fact of owning a digital currency will not be a violation of the law. The current regulations and the new law do not prohibit citizens from storing cryptocurrencies, including those purchased before the new rules came into force, explained Viktor Burchik, head of the digital asset development department at Infinitum Special Depository. At the same time, by September 1, 2027, owners will be able to transfer digital assets from external addresses to a regulated Russian circuit in a simplified manner, the expert added.

The new rules are primarily aimed against illegal market organizers, and not against ordinary owners of cryptocurrencies, Dmitry Marinichev noted. Responsibility will be imposed for the illegal exchange, storage or transfer of clients' digital assets without the necessary permits. Violators can face up to seven years in prison for such actions.

At the same time, investors will have to consider new responsibilities. In particular, when working outside the Russian regulated circuit, it may be necessary to notify the tax authorities about the transactions carried out, warned the Digital Broker. Additional questions may arise from those who regularly make transactions at their own expense and actually begin to act as an intermediary, Dmitry Marinichev added.

The law also creates new mechanisms to protect users. Investors will receive information about risks, undergo testing, and transactions through legal intermediaries will provide additional guarantees. Thus, starting from September 1, 2027, crypto exchanges will be required to take measures to prevent transactions with digital currencies made without the voluntary consent of the client.

In case of violation of the requirements of the organizer of the circulation of digital currencies, they may be required to compensate the client for losses, Viktor Burchik explained. An additional tool will be a 48-hour "cooling-off period" for suspicious large transfers to external addresses.

However, regulation does not eliminate market risks, Andrey Poroshin warned. Bitcoin and other digital assets remain volatile instruments, and losses can be associated not only with fraud, but also with the usual fluctuations in quotations.

Will it be possible to bring the cryptocurrency market out of the shadows

The main challenge for the state will be the transfer of existing turnover from the gray segment to the legal one, experts say. If the new infrastructure turns out to be too expensive or inconvenient, some users will continue to turn to foreign platforms and informal P2P transactions, Andrey Poroshin believes.

Minimum capital requirements for crypto exchanges and platform operators will result in serious investments and process restructuring for companies, Alexey Rodin noted. According to him, some of the current players may leave the market, but at the same time this will create conditions for the emergence of larger and more transparent participants.

The gradual exit of the sector from the gray zone will be a natural process, Guzel Protsenko believes. The development of regulated infrastructure will follow an analogy with industrial mining, where the government is also gradually forming clear rules of operation. At the same time, an important condition will be the creation of a full-fledged ecosystem of exchanges, exchangers, depositories and security services, said Andrey Loboda, a top manager in the field of financial communications, member of the expert council of the Association of Forex Dealers on the development of the over-the-counter financial market.

A separate regulatory task is to combat the use of cryptocurrencies in illegal schemes. Legalization should help block the channels through which stolen funds can now be withdrawn or illegal operations can be carried out, said Evgeny Masharov, a member of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation. If a legitimate market cannot replace existing crypto exchanges, two parallel circuits of digital currency circulation may remain in the country, he warned.

The new law will also help the development of international settlements. There are broader opportunities for businesses to use digital currencies in foreign trade transactions, including payments to foreign counterparties, Denis Astafyev noted. However, Russian transactions may face additional attention from foreign blockchain analytics systems, Dmitry Lesnov warned.

In the future, the new market may become an additional channel for investment and capital raising, experts say. Clear rules, tax regulation and protection of the rights of participants will help reduce risks for citizens and businesses. At the same time, the final success will depend on how convenient the new infrastructure will be for users and whether it will be able to compete with existing informal channels.