Russia Backs Bill to Regulate Top Cryptocurrencies, Including Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana

Russia's Legislative Activity Committee has endorsed a draft bill to regulate cryptocurrency trading, according to ChainCatcher, citing Cryptopolitan. The proposal would allow domestic crypto exchanges to list digital assets with the largest market capitalizations and highest trading volumes. To qualify, a cryptocurrency must have averaged more than 5 trillion rubles (about $60 billion) in market value over the past two years, posted average daily trading volume of at least 1 trillion rubles (about $12 billion), and maintained at least five years of trading history. Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana meet the thresholds. The bill gives the Central Bank of Russia power to set the official roster of permitted digital assets and authorizes financial intelligence bodies to blacklist specific tokens. Privacy coins would be barred from trading. The draft classifies cryptocurrencies and stablecoins as "monetary assets" and caps annual investment by ordinary Russian citizens at $4,000. Penalties include fines of up to 1 million rubles for noncompliant exchanges, up to 2.5 million rubles for illegal mining, and up to five years' imprisonment for large-scale illegal mining.