The National Association of Securities Market Participants, known as NAUFOR, has been granted self-regulatory organization status for digital depositories and crypto exchanges by Russia's Central Bank, according to Interfax. The decision was made on October 29.
The approval implements Russia's digital currency law, On Digital Currency and Digital Rights, which passed the State Duma in July. The framework requires crypto exchange operators and depositories to register with the central bank and join a self-regulatory organization.
According to Interfax, the registry currently lists 23 crypto exchanges and eight digital depositories, including VTB, Sberbank, and units of T-Technologies. Firms on these registries have 90 days to join NAUFOR.
As a self-regulatory organization, NAUFOR will write industry standards, monitor member compliance, and represent the sector to regulators. The association previously received similar designation status for information system operators in October and has operated since 1996 with 725 members from traditional securities markets.
Russia's framework restricts domestic cryptocurrency payments and caps retail purchases at 300,000 rubles annually through a single intermediary. The law creates a state-supervised channel for cross-border crypto transactions and licenses exchanges and depositories to operate under central bank oversight.
In separate developments, the Moscow Exchange began testing cryptocurrency trading with professional participants and planned to launch trading in December using existing infrastructure and a partner digital depository. Sberbank also received approval to custody Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
