Russia is preparing new rules that would restrict direct peer-to-peer cryptocurrency trades and transfers made through self-custody wallets, according to a CoinGape report on draft measures now circulating among Russian regulators.

The reported framework targets two of the least intermediated corners of the crypto market. First, direct P2P trades — transactions in which two parties exchange rubles or other assets for cryptocurrency without an exchange sitting in the middle. Second, transfers from self-custody wallets, meaning addresses whose private keys are held by users rather than by a licensed custodian or exchange.

If adopted as described, the rules would push Russian users toward regulated, intermediary-run channels and away from wallet-to-wallet activity that regulators cannot readily observe.

What does this change for Russian market participants?

For practitioners, the operative question is what survives of the current P2P market. Russia has long had a substantial over-the-counter and P2P trading culture, much of it routed through Telegram groups and the P2P desks of major exchanges. Rules that restrict direct trades would shift volume either onto compliant platforms with identity verification or into channels that are harder to police.

For self-custody users, the practical consequence is narrower: transfers from non-custodial wallets would face new legal friction, a category of restriction that few major jurisdictions have attempted to enforce at the transfer level rather than at the point of fiat on- and off-ramping.

Enforcement and market-structure implications

Three operational consequences follow from the reported direction of the rules:

• Compliance burden shifts to intermediaries. Exchanges and P2P platforms operating with Russian users would need screening and routing controls to demonstrate that restricted transfer types are blocked.
• Self-custody becomes a compliance boundary rather than a pure technical choice. Wallet infrastructure providers serving the region would need to assess whether their services fall within scope.
• Volume may migrate. Restrictions on direct trades typically redirect activity to venues or jurisdictions outside the perimeter, complicating rather than simplifying oversight.

The details that determine the real impact — the definition of a restricted transfer, thresholds, penalties, and which agencies hold enforcement authority — were not specified in the report. Russia's primary financial intelligence and monetary authorities, the Federal Financial Monitoring Service and the Central Bank of Russia, have historically split over how tightly to police digital assets, and the final allocation of supervisory power will shape how aggressively any new rules bite.

What does this change for the broader market? Until the draft text is published and a legislative timetable is set, the story is directional: another major economy moving to regulate the wallet layer itself, not merely the exchange layer. Practitioners serving Russian users should track the formal publication of the draft, the committee deadline attached to it, and any transition window granted before transfer-level restrictions take effect.