On January 15, 2026, Russian lawmakers and executives from Sberbank reiterated that effective fraud prevention requires comprehensive regulation of the country's cryptocurrency market. A new draft law based on the Central Bank's policy, which includes a 300,000 ruble annual limit for non-qualified investors, is expected to be adopted by July 1, 2026. Officials argue that legalizing domestic exchanges and introducing clear rules would help block channels used to withdraw stolen funds and reduce the impact of fraudulent schemes.

Tether has registered a trademark in the Russian Federation for its Hadron tokenization platform. According to a review by RIA Novosti of Rospatent records, the application was filed in October 2025 and approved in January 2026, granting rights through October 3, 2035. The move aligns with Russia planning comprehensive crypto rules in the first half of 2026.

Poland's Senate approved corrections to the Crypto-Asset Market Act and sent the bill back to the Sejm. Deputies had cut the supervisory fee from 0.4% to 0.1%, but senators scrapped that change; the levy will rise to 0.5% with a €500 minimum. The Sejm passed the law in September, and the president vetoed it in early December.

In an interview published in early January 2026, Russian economist Oleg Vyugin argued that Bitcoin is unlikely to supplant gold in the coming years because of a highly concentrated market dominated by large holders. He still expects the cryptocurrency to appreciate against major fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar, citing its fixed, programmatically limited supply. Vyugin linked Bitcoin’s long-term appeal to its resistance to inflation, while Russia moves toward comprehensive crypto regulation planned by July 2026.

On December 30, 2025, Russia's Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said his ministry and the Central Bank of Russia are working on rules to let ordinary, non-qualified investors legally buy cryptocurrencies under volume limits. The draft framework is expected to be reviewed by the government, with related legislation on market access and criminal liability for illegal crypto services targeted for adoption by 2026 and 2027. Regulators also plan to recognize crypto and stablecoins as currency assets while keeping a cautious stance on their use as investment instruments.

Russia ended 2025 with a marked shift in crypto policy, capped by the central bank's late‑December concept for comprehensive regulation. Mining gained legal status in late 2024, and in March 2025 an experimental regime enabled limited cross‑border crypto use, with derivatives allowed in May. A full framework is targeted for adoption by July 1, 2026.

EU crypto reporting under DAC8 begins January 1, with providers required to share user and transaction data and a compliance deadline on July 1, 2026. Several European jurisdictions still exempt long‑term holdings, while others introduce new levies such as Slovenia's 25% and Cyprus's 8%. Asia features 0% regimes in the UAE and targeted relief in Thailand.

Kazakhstan’s central bank has approved three pilots, including tokenizing refined gold and testing crypto payments via QR codes, with a third focused on a tenge-pegged stablecoin. The nation plans a $1 billion crypto reserve, with $300 million earmarked, and gold holdings increased by at least 32 tonnes this year. A regulator stated cryptocurrencies cannot be used for payments.

On December 26, 2025, Sberbank said it issued a pilot corporate loan to Intelion Data JSC secured by cryptocurrency mined in Russia. The bank used its Rutoken storage to hold the pledged assets and framed the test as groundwork for future rules, while lawmakers target July 1, 2026 for adopting comprehensive crypto regulation in the country.