Russia Plans to Restrict Bitcoin P2P Trading and Wallet Withdrawals

Russia plans to require licensed intermediaries for peer-to-peer Bitcoin trading and restrict transfers to personal wallets, changing how individuals can trade and hold digital assets.

Under the planned framework, peer-to-peer digital-asset transactions would have to go through licensed brokers or registered exchanges. Individuals would not be able to conduct these trades directly outside those channels. Transfers from regulated digital-asset accounts to personal noncustodial wallets would also be restricted, limiting how assets can be moved out of regulated accounts.

Non-qualified investors would have to pass a knowledge test to buy digital assets. Their annual purchases would be capped at 300,000 rubles per intermediary, with the limit applying separately to each broker or registered exchange.

The rules are scheduled to take effect July 1, 2027. Russia would continue to prohibit using Bitcoin and other digital assets to pay for goods and services; that payment ban is separate from the planned trading and wallet-transfer controls.