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Russia will require crypto depository account holders to provide an individual taxpayer identification number, or INN, as part of a new anti-money-laundering framework.
The requirement was disclosed Sept. 9, 2026, by Vlada Gracheva, an adviser to the director of Russia’s Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring), at the PLAS Forum in Moscow.
The new identification rule is designed to make cryptocurrency transactions easier for authorities to trace and monitor. Gracheva said the taxpayer number would serve as a mandatory identifier under the country’s anti-money laundering framework.
The INN, or individual taxpayer identification number, is a 12-digit identifier assigned to Russian taxpayers. It remains associated with the individual even if personal details such as an address or surname change.
By attaching a permanent taxpayer identifier to crypto depository accounts, Russian authorities can connect digital-asset activity with an established identity record.
The country’s comprehensive crypto legislation took effect on Sept. 1, creating a regulated framework covering exchanges, brokers, digital depositories and other intermediaries involved in digital-asset transactions.
Digital depositories are expected to perform an important role in Russia’s new market by maintaining records associated with cryptocurrency and digital rights.
The Bank of Russia has already developed requirements for these institutions, including rules covering registration, capital and digital account administration.
Under the updated anti-money laundering rules, digital depositories and operators of information systems dealing with digital financial assets cannot provide accounts to anonymous customers or individuals using fictitious identities.
Transactions above 60,000 rubles require covered institutions to collect and transmit additional information about the parties involved.
Smaller transactions face less extensive identification requirements, although authorities can demand broader information when there are concerns that a transaction may involve money laundering or terrorist financing.
The INN requirement arrives as Russia implements its first comprehensive framework for cryptocurrency trading, custody and certain cross-border transactions.
The Bank of Russia says the system will allow both qualified and non-qualified investors to participate through regulated intermediaries, but the two groups will face different conditions.
Non-qualified investors must pass a knowledge test and can purchase eligible cryptocurrencies up to 300,000 rubles annually through each intermediary. Qualified investors are subject to testing but are not subject to the same annual purchase ceiling.
The Bank of Russia has also proposed Bitcoin, Ether and Tether’s USDT among the cryptocurrencies that could qualify for organized trading, based on factors including liquidity, market capitalization and overseas trading history.
The development of crypto depository accounts therefore needs to be viewed within a broader regulatory strategy rather than as an isolated identification rule. Russia is simultaneously building formal market infrastructure while increasing its ability to monitor participants.
The introduction of mandatory identification for crypto depository accounts signals that participation in Russia’s regulated crypto market will come with considerably greater transparency requirements.
The Bank of Russia is maintaining registers for regulated market participants, while digital depositories are being brought under specific operational and reporting obligations.
Existing crypto service providers have been given a transition period to bring their businesses into compliance, with registration requirements extending toward July 2027.
Sberbank is also preparing to enter the infrastructure side of the market. The bank plans to introduce cryptocurrency trading, custody and settlement services and establish a digital depository by Dec. 1.
The taxpayer-ID requirement also coincides with a separate Russian initiative to connect taxpayer numbers with conventional bank accounts.
The Bank of Russia is developing the mechanism as part of preparations for its Antidrop platform, which is expected to launch in 2027 and is intended to help identify accounts associated with money-mule activity.
As the market develops, crypto depository accounts are likely to become an important component of Russia’s digital-asset infrastructure.
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