Rosfinmonitoring insists that crypto exchanges and other services through which digital assets are converted into fiat money must operate within a licensed and transparent framework. According to the agency, such platforms are obliged to identify clients, verify the origin of assets, record transactions, and bear responsibility commensurate with the level of risk.
The main problem is the possibility of cashing out and laundering criminal proceeds. The exchange of cryptocurrency for cash remains particularly sensitive: such transactions are least visible to banks, tax authorities, and the anti-money laundering system. Therefore, Rosfinmonitoring's position is directly related to the discussed amendments to the second reading of the crypto market bill, which included the idea of legalizing cash cryptocurrency exchange between individuals.
The agency's logic is clear: if the conversion of digital assets into cash is allowed without rules, the market will gain a convenient channel for withdrawing money with almost no control. Therefore, it is not so much about prohibition as it is about an attempt to make such operations visible to the state and financial monitoring.
A similar approach is used in FATF international practice: crypto market participants do not necessarily have to be turned into banks, but the riskiest areas are covered by requirements commensurate with the level of threats. In Dubai, for example, rules for virtual assets are divided by type of service – from consulting and brokerage operations to storage, exchange trading, lending, asset management, and transfers. In Hong Kong, crypto platform operators are licensed, and the regulator publishes lists of officially approved market participants.
The main question now is balance. Rosfinmonitoring's diagnosis seems clear: gray exchanges indeed remain one of the most convenient corridors for withdrawing and cashing out funds. But if the rules turn out to be too burdensome, a legal market may simply not emerge – and crypto exchange will remain where it was before: in the shadows, only now against the backdrop of a stricter law.