Russia's daily crypto turnover is over $650 million, Ministry of Finance says

Finance Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Russia's daily crypto turnover is over $650 million, Ministry of Finance says Government and central bank officials are pushing for legislation to regulate cryptocurrency activities, aiming for passage during the spring session. By Francisco Rodrigues | Edited by Omkar Godbole Feb 16, 2026, 9:03 a.m. Make us preferred on Google (Photo by Artem Beliaikin on Unsplash/Modified by CoinDesk) What to know : Cryptocurrency turnover is estimated at $650 million daily and $130.5 billion annually, primarily occurring outside regulated channels, according to the Ministry of Finance. Government and central bank officials are pushing for legislation to regulate cryptocurrency activities, aiming for passage during the spring session. The new framework would allow licensed exchanges and brokers to offer cryptocurrency services, including spot trading, with specific licensing for exchange offices and penalties for unlicensed intermediaries. Russia’s Ministry of Finance has estimated the country’s daily cryptocurrency turnover at 50 billion rubles, or roughly $650 million, with annual activity exceeding 10 trillion rubles, around $130.5 billion. The figures were shared by Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov at the Alfa Talk conference, highlighting the growing scale of unregulated crypto use in the country, local outlet RBC reports . STORY CONTINUES BELOW Don't miss another story. Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today . See all newsletters Sign me up By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms & conditions and privacy policy . “This is a turnover of more than 10 trillion rubles per year, which is currently taking place outside the regulated zone, outside our attention,” Chebeskov said. Government officials, including the Bank of Russia, are now pushing for legislation to bring that activity into the regulatory fold. Vladimir Chistyukhin, first deputy of chairman of the Central Bank, said both the government and the Bank hope a crypto market regulation bill will be passed during the State Duma’s spring session. The proposed rules would allow existing licensed infrastructure, like exchanges and brokers, to enter the cryptocurrency space and boost their crypto offerings. The Moscow Exchange (MOEX) is already offering bitcoin BTC $ 68,770.50 and ether ETH $ 1,977.49 cash-settled futures contracts, and plans on adding SOL, XRP, and TRX futures. The new framework would also allow MOEX and brokers to enter the spot market. Qualified and non-qualified investors would be allowed to participate, though with restrictions for the latter. Specific licensing would only apply to crypto exchange offices, and penalties are planned for unlicensed intermediaries. According to the Bank of Russia’s financial stability report, Russian users held an estimated 933 billion rubles ($11.89 billion) on global crypto exchanges in mid-2025. These platforms are not currently regulated in Russia. Sergey Shvetsov, Chairman of the Moscow Exchange’s Supervisory Board, said Russian users pay around $15 billion annually in commissions to global crypto platforms. “As soon as it becomes possible, we will begin to compete with the gray sector,” he said. “The commissions that crypto exchanges and regular exchanges receive from trading crypto assets annually is $50 billion; there are estimates that the Russian share is about a third.” Russia is indeed estimated to be the largest cryptocurrency market in Europe. Chainalysis found that between July 2024 and June 2025, Russia received $376.3 billion in crypto, far ahead of the $273.2 billion the United Kingdom received over the same period. Germany and Ukraine were the only other European countries to have received over $200 billion for the period. Russia crypto adoption More For You Accelerating Convergence Between Traditional and On-Chain Finance in 2026? 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