Russia limits crypto to 25% in exchanges’ capital calculations

Russia’s central bank wants to let financial intermediaries count crypto toward their capital requirements. There’s a catch: digital assets can’t exceed 25% of the total. The Bank of Russia published a draft instruction on August 14 opening a public consultation on rules that would allow professional market participants, including brokers, asset managers, forex dealers, and crypto exchanges, to incorporate certain digital currencies into their own-funds calculations and capital-adequacy ratios. Comments are due by August 29, giving the industry roughly two weeks to weigh in before the broader crypto-market framework law takes effect on September 1. What the draft actually says The instruction is narrower than it might sound at first glance. Not every token qualifies. Only digital currencies that have been admitted to organized trading by Russian operators and recorded with a Russian digital depository make the cut. Bitcoin and Ethereum are explicitly named as examples of eligible assets. Valuation isn’t left to the imagination, either. Firms must price qualifying crypto at fair value under International Financial Reporting Standards, factoring in both market and credit risks. The 2...