Russia crypto industry may be legally operational by end-2026, central bank deputy governor says

The significance here is less the timeline than the sequencing: a central bank is describing crypto legalisation as a scheduled regulatory build-out, not a policy debate, which suggests the institutional groundwork is already underway. Sberbank's planned wallet and custody move points to state-aligned banks positioning as the first regulated gatekeepers rather than crypto-native firms. The open question is whether the secondary rules land as drafted or get tightened, and whether that gatekeeper model leaves room for the existing domestic crypto industry.