Russia is poised to introduce landmark cryptocurrency regulations after the Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, approved a comprehensive tax bill targeting cryptocurrency transactions and mining activities.
The bill recognizes digital currencies as property and imposes a 13%-15% tax on cryptocurrency transactions. It also exempts miners from value-added tax (VAT) on mined coins. The bill, which has already passed three readings in the State Duma, now awaits President Vladimir Putin‘s signature.
Once passed, the law will introduce new tax obligations for cryptocurrency traders, while offering exemptions for authorized mining infrastructure operators. The new law represents a major overhaul of Russia’s approach to cryptocurrencies, clarifying the legal status of digital assets and imposing structured tax obligations.
The law ends years of regulatory ambiguity by officially recognizing cryptocurrencies as property. Under the proposed tax framework, individual income from cryptocurrency transactions will be taxed at a rate of 13% on annual income up to 2.4 million rubles (about $21,210) and 15% on income above that threshold.
The law also imposes strict reporting requirements on mining companies. Crypto-mining infrastructure operators must report detailed information about their operations to local tax authorities.
Any failure to comply with these requirements can result in fines of up to 40,000 rubles (about $360).
In addition, mining income will be taxed based on the market value of cryptocurrencies at the time they are received, and miners conducting transactions through authorized platforms will receive VAT exemptions.
This tightening of regulations also affects small miners. Earlier this month, the government imposed energy consumption limits of 6,000 kilowatt-hours per month on unregistered miners.
The timing of these regulations is particularly noteworthy because it coincides with a sharp rise in the value of bitcoin against the ruble.
on November 27, bitcoin reached a historic peak of 11 million rubles per coin, driven by a combination of the cryptocurrency’s global rally – approaching the $100,000 level – and the ruble’s continued depreciation against the US dollar.
The value of the ruble has fallen by 25% over the past year, with the dollar-to-ruble exchange rate reaching a multi-year peak of 113 rubles per dollar. The decline is largely attributed to ongoing economic challenges, exacerbated by Western sanctions and geopolitical tensions.
Once signed into law, the bill will represent a significant shift in Russia’s approach to cryptocurrencies, introducing a structured regulatory environment that could increase institutional confidence in the sector.
It is worth noting that a 45% increase in the price of bitcoin in November, from $68,000 to $99,000, along with new regulations on cryptocurrency mining in Russia, resulted in an 8% increase in Russian internet traffic on major cryptocurrency exchanges, according to telecom giant MegaFon.
This is in line with the global trend of increased interest in cryptocurrencies, with visits to the top 20 global exchanges up 8-10% compared to October.
Russian users now account for about 27-30% of total traffic on these platforms, with significant growth on exchanges such as Deribit, which saw a 126% increase, and HTX and KuCoin, which saw traffic increases of 24% and 23%, respectively.
However, some platforms, such as Gate.io and Upbit, have seen declines in traffic. The surge is also due to the new cryptocurrency mining law passed on November 1. The law restricts mining to registered businesses and organizations and limits non-commercial mining to 6,000 kWh per month.
