Russia Puts Its Crypto Market at $44 Billion

The Russian Ministry of Finance estimates crypto assets held by Russians at 44 billion dollars. The figure, based on expert estimates, is much higher than the data published by the Central Bank.

A figure of 44 billion still hard to verify

Russian estimates on the size of the crypto market vary greatly. The Central Bank recently evaluated citizens’ holdings on exchange platforms at about 720 billion rubles. The Ministry of Finance puts forward an amount of 3,700 billion.

Ivan Chebeskov, Deputy Minister of Finance, shared these figures in an interview with TASS on September 21, on the occasion of the opening of the Moscow Financial Forum.

The official speaks of “expert estimates,” without specifying sources or the method used. According to him, the amount includes cryptocurrencies held directly as well as part of the financial products linked to crypto assets.

Other data also show the gap between estimates. Triple-A counts 8.7 million holders in Russia, while Sberbank previously mentioned a range from 7 to 20 million people.

50 billion rubles exchanged every day

The ministry also advances a daily volume of about 50 billion rubles, or nearly 595 million dollars. Over a year, this would represent around 10,000 billion rubles in transactions.

So far, much of this activity escaped the Russian financial infrastructures. However, the situation is starting to change.

Since September 1, a new regulation governs operations related to cryptos. Trading, custody, and accounting activities must progressively go through authorized actors, including exchanges, brokers, management companies, and digital depositories.

Holders will also have to declare certain foreign wallets to tax authorities. International transfers will also have to go through regulated intermediaries.

Vladimir Chistyukhin, First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank, aims to create a legal crypto industry by the end of the year. The Moscow Exchange notably plans to launch crypto listings in December.

Moscow’s position remains clear: cryptos cannot be used for domestic payments and their use is limited to certain international payments.

Assets abroad at the heart of the strategy

Another issue could quickly gain importance: stablecoins. These digital assets, usually pegged to the dollar, are already used for cross-border transactions.

The Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance are working on their regulation. In June, the Central Bank published a consultation document recognizing that no specific definition of stablecoin yet exists in Russian law.

However, repatriation of assets held abroad remains the main issue. Rosfinmonitoring had estimated the average Russian holdings on unregulated international platforms at 933 billion rubles per month.

It now remains to see whether holders will actually transfer their assets to authorized infrastructures in Russia. The Central Bank has already set a limit: brokers’ crypto exposure cannot exceed 25% of their equity.