Putin Pushes Fast Crypto Legalization to Fight Russia’s Shadow Economy
The Kremlin has drafted a plan to bring more of Russia’s economy out of the shadows by making cryptocurrency legalization a central priority. President Putin has called on the executive branch to speed implementation and to crack down on widespread illegal mining, signaling an expedited timeline for rulemaking and stronger compliance actions. Officials expect the package to include licensing, reporting requirements and targeted enforcement against unregistered mining operations.
Legalizing and regulating digital assets could widen the tax base and bring mining under formal oversight, creating clearer channels for legitimate crypto businesses. At the same time, the approach raises questions about surveillance, capital controls and how new rules will interact with international sanctions. Markets and domestic miners will be watching for concrete draft laws and timelines, since the ultimate impact depends on enforcement capacity and the specifics of tax and anti-money-laundering provisions.