Bank of Russia Admits Its First Digital Depositories and Crypto Exchanges to the Financial Market

The Bank of Russia said on October 6 that it had admitted five organizations to its digital-depository register and four entities to its register for organizations conducting digital-currency exchange activities, making them the first nine entities in its new financial-market registers for these activities. The entries came little more than a month after Russia’s law on digital currencies and digital rights took effect on September 1; the regulator said it used the law’s transitional provisions for the initial entries. Nine organizations enter the new registers The Bank of Russia announced the two sets of admissions on October 6: five digital depositories and four digital-currency exchange entities.

The categories are separate, reflecting distinct functions under the new framework. The regulator’s financial-market admission page was updated on October 11 and includes links to the registers for digital depositories and organizations conducting digital-currency exchange activities. That page now provides the official register access point for the newly admitted types of financial-market participant.

Custody, access and proprietary trading Digital depositories may record and transfer digital currencies and digital rights. They may also provide access to identifier addresses, according to the central bank’s description of the role. Organizations entered in the digital-currency exchange register have a narrower stated trading function: they may buy and sell digital currencies for their own account outside organized trading.

The Bank of Russia’s announcement describes this as proprietary activity, not a general authorization to operate organized crypto trading for customers. The distinction matters because the depository role combines recordkeeping, transfer and address-access functions, while the exchange category concerns transactions conducted by the registered organization itself. Both are now covered by dedicated registers maintained through the Bank of Russia’s financial-market admission system.

Transitional provisions used The October 6 admissions were made under transitional provisions in the law on digital currencies and digital rights, which entered into force on September 1. The central bank did not describe the admissions as the completion of the framework’s rollout in its announcement. For now, the concrete result is the addition of five digital depositories and four digital-currency exchange entities to the regulator’s registers.

The Bank of Russia’s admission page, updated October 11, links to both registers. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.