Russia’s Duma Advances Bill No. 636524-8 to Final Reading on Crypto Mining, Exchanges

Russia’s State Duma has advanced a bill, listed as No. 636524-8, toward its final legislative stage, moving the country closer to a formal statutory framework for crypto mining, exchanges and cross-border settlement. The measure would require mandatory registries for industrial miners, impose licensing requirements on crypto exchanges, and set legal treatment for certain cross-border settlement uses involving digital assets.

The bill’s progress toward final reading signals that Moscow intends to formalize activity that has already been operating inside and around the Russian economy for years, rather than leave miners, exchanges and settlement channels in a regulatory gray zone.

What the bill covers

According to reporting on the legislation, the framework targets three specific areas of Russia’s digital asset sector. Industrial-scale miners would be required to register in a mandatory database, giving authorities visibility into who is mining and at what scale. Crypto exchanges operating in or serving the Russian market would need to obtain licenses to continue operating legally.

The bill also addresses legal treatment for certain cross-border settlement activity conducted with digital assets, an area that has drawn attention given Russia’s exposure to Western sanctions and its search for alternative payment rails in international trade.

Why it matters beyond Russia

A formal registry-and-licensing regime for miners and exchanges would give Russian regulators a clearer picture of domestic mining capacity and exchange activity, both of which have implications for energy policy and sanctions enforcement. Cross-border settlement provisions are the piece most likely to draw scrutiny from foreign observers, since digital assets have been discussed as a channel for sanctions-constrained trade.

For crypto market participants outside Russia, the bill is a reminder that national governments continue to treat digital asset oversight as intertwined with broader policy goals — payments strategy, energy allocation, and sanctions exposure — rather than as a narrow financial-markets question. As more jurisdictions formalize mining and exchange rules, the regulatory patchwork that global miners and exchanges must navigate keeps expanding.

The bill has not yet been confirmed as passed into law; its movement toward final readings indicates it is in the late stages of the Duma’s legislative process, with formal adoption still to be finalized.

Read more: UK Parliament Opens 6-Week Inquiry Into Crypto Firms’ Banking Access

Sources

• bitcoinist.com
• newsbtc.com