Russia Approves First Crypto Exchanges and Custodians Under New Regulatory Law

WHY IT MATTERS

When a country officially registers crypto exchanges and custodians, it means the government is creating legal rules for companies that help people buy, sell, and store cryptocurrency — similar to how banks need licenses to operate. For Russia, this is notable because the country has gone back and forth on whether to allow or ban crypto. A custodian in crypto is like a bank vault for digital assets — it is a service that holds your cryptocurrency on your behalf. By approving these services under law, Russia is signaling that it wants to regulate crypto rather than prohibit it, which could affect how crypto businesses and users operate in one of the world's largest economies.