The Central Bank has banned individuals from transferring cryptocurrency to their own "cold" wallet

The Central Bank of Russia does not allow individuals to transfer digital currency from their account to their "cold" (non-custodial) wallet. This was confirmed on October 15 by a corresponding explanation published on the regulator's website.

"No, the transfer of digital currency by an individual to a non-custodial wallet in accordance with Part 9 of Article 31 of Federal Law No. 282-FZ is not allowed," the explanation says.

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation also separately clarified the procedure for operations with digital currency. In particular, starting from July 1, 2026, residents who do not belong to the persons organizing the circulation of digital currencies can conduct such transactions and transactions only through or with market participants provided for by law. These include, in particular, brokers and organizations that exchange digital currencies.

At the same time, the Bank of Russia clarified that direct transactions between individuals are still allowed, but only until July 1, 2027. After this date, the legislation does not provide for such transactions to be conducted directly between citizens.

It is important that we are talking specifically about transferring digital currency from a digital account to our own non-custodial wallet, and not about banning citizens from owning cryptocurrency on personal wallets in general.

Cryptocurrency has been legalized in Russia since September 1. What does this mean for an investor

On September 20, the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation announced that they were working with the Central Bank of Russia to create a mechanism for the functioning of the Russian stablecoin. Deputy Minister of the Department Ivan Chebeskov clarified that the authors are considering a list of possible operations that can be performed in this way.