Russia's Draft 1% Crypto Cap Would Apply to Banks' Own Holdings
A draft Russian rule would limit bank crypto exposure to 1% of capital, counting proprietary holdings while conditionally excluding customer assets.
A draft Russian regulation would cap banks' cryptocurrency exposure at 1%, measured against the lender's capital rather than its total balance sheet. The limit is designed to sit alongside existing prudential rules that govern how much risk a bank may carry relative to its buffers.
Under the draft, a bank's own crypto holdings and crypto-linked instruments would count toward the 1% ceiling. That means proprietary positions — rather than client-directed activity — are the primary target of the capital charge.
Customer assets would be excluded from the calculation, but only conditionally. The exclusion is not automatic under the draft text, leaving open how banks would need to structure and document client holdings to keep them outside the cap.
Capital treatment
- Banks' own crypto holdings count against the 1% capital limit
- Crypto-linked instruments are also included in the exposure measure
- Customer assets are conditionally excluded from the cap
Russia has taken a restrictive approach to cryptocurrency in recent years, and this draft forms part of a wider set of rules shaping how regulated lenders may interact with the asset class. The measure remains a proposal and would need to be finalized before taking effect.