Russia’s central bank is proposing a notable shift in how the country’s digital financial assets are issued and used, signaling a broader effort to connect domestic businesses with international capital through blockchain infrastructure. At the center of the proposal is a plan to allow companies to issue digital financial assets (DFAs) on public blockchain networks such as Ethereum, rather than limiting issuance to domestic closed platforms.
The proposal was highlighted by Elvira Nabiullina, governor of the Bank of Russia, who said the new framework could play an important role in attracting international investment and facilitating cross-border settlements. If implemented, the rules would mark a meaningful expansion of Russia’s approach to tokenized financial instruments and their role in the national economy.
A Broader Market for Russian Digital Financial Assets
Under the current model, Russian digital financial assets represent financial rights in digital form and are generally issued on local platforms accessible mainly to qualified investors. The central bank’s new proposal would open the door to issuance on public networks, a move that could significantly expand market access and visibility.
Such a change would not only widen the pool of potential investors but could also create conditions for these instruments to be listed on international exchanges or integrated into decentralized finance ecosystems. In practical terms, this would give Russian businesses a way to tap liquidity pools and investor demand beyond the domestic market.
For policymakers, the appeal is clear: public blockchain infrastructure can make issuance more flexible, make assets more portable across jurisdictions and platforms, and potentially support new channels for raising capital. For companies, it may offer access to a market that was previously difficult to reach through conventional financial rails.
Efficiency Gains Compared With Traditional Instruments
Although Russia adopted its law on digital financial assets in 2020, the market remains relatively small compared with the traditional corporate bond market. According to Valery Tumin, a member of the State Duma’s expert council on digital economy development, DFA issuance currently accounts for only around 2% of corporate volumes.
That limited share, however, does not mean the model lacks momentum. Banks are said to be developing these alternative instruments actively because of their operational advantages. Tumin noted that issuing DFAs can take only a few days and does not require registration, whereas traditional bond issuance may take weeks or even months to prepare.
This difference in speed is one of the strongest arguments in favor of digitized issuance. Faster execution can help issuers react more quickly to funding needs, while a more streamlined process may reduce friction and lower costs for both issuers and investors. The use of blockchain technology and smart contracts is also expected to simplify a number of back-office procedures.
Cross-Border Settlement in Focus
One of the most important policy motivations behind the proposal is the role digital assets could play in cross-border settlements. Nabiullina said the planned regulations would help support international payments, suggesting that tokenized instruments issued on open networks may become part of a broader settlement architecture.
For Russia, this issue has strategic importance. A public-chain approach could allow domestic businesses to interact with international investors and counterparties in a more direct and programmable way. It may also provide access to forms of liquidity and transaction infrastructure that differ from traditional financial networks.
The article notes that the proposal could help Russian companies access international liquidity and enter markets that were previously difficult to access. It also points out that blockchain-based issuance may help businesses reach interested investors while streamlining transactions through smart contracts and distributed ledger infrastructure.
Growth Potential and Remaining Obstacles
Despite the promise of expansion, the market still faces technical hurdles. The source material does not detail all of these challenges, but it makes clear that practical issues remain before the sector can scale meaningfully. As with any move from closed financial platforms to public blockchain networks, implementation would likely depend on both regulatory precision and technological readiness.
Even so, market observers see substantial room for growth. Natalia Milchakova of Freedom Finance Global told Izvestia that the Russian DFA sector could grow to 13 trillion rubles by 2030, or roughly $160 billion. According to the same estimate, that would represent a 20-fold increase from the level of investment achieved in 2025.
If that projection proves accurate, digital financial assets could move from a niche funding mechanism into a more significant layer of Russia’s corporate finance landscape. Growth on that scale would also indicate broader acceptance from issuers, investors, and financial intermediaries.
Why the Proposal Matters
The importance of the central bank’s proposal lies not only in the specific use of Ethereum or other public networks, but in the broader regulatory message it sends. Russia appears to be exploring a model in which tokenized financial rights can circulate in a more open and internationally connected environment, while still operating under a formal domestic legal framework.
That combination—regulated issuance with access to open blockchain rails—could reshape how Russian businesses think about fundraising, investor access, and settlement infrastructure. It also reflects a wider trend in global finance, where tokenization is increasingly seen as a way to improve speed, transparency, and market reach.
At the same time, the sector’s current size shows that ambition does not automatically translate into scale. With DFAs still accounting for a small fraction of corporate financing activity, future growth will depend on whether the proposed rules can be implemented in a way that is attractive to issuers and credible to investors.
For now, the Bank of Russia’s initiative marks an important policy development: a push to use public blockchain networks as a bridge between the domestic economy and international capital markets. Whether this turns into a major transformation or remains a limited experiment will depend on how the regulatory framework evolves and how quickly market participants embrace the opportunity.