Russia’s FSB gets round-the-clock access to crypto exchange customer data starting in March

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) will gain round-the-clock access to cryptocurrency exchange customers’ personal data starting in March 2027.

The provision appears in a Russian Central Bank document (.pdf) containing comments and proposals on the federal law “On Digital Currencies and Digital Rights.” The document was flagged by Sarkis Darbinyan, co-founder of the internet freedom group Roskomsvoboda.

Market participants, banks, industry associations, and depositories had proposed, among other things, providing data to the FSB only upon request and barring access to private keys and transaction-signing tools through SORM. The Central Bank rejected those proposals, saying the approach had been agreed upon with the FSB.

The FSB will therefore receive customer information from cryptocurrency exchanges, including full names, passport details, taxpayer identification numbers, phone numbers, email addresses, transactions and bank details, account numbers and wallet addresses, IP addresses and login times, and correspondence between the platform and the customer.

Darbinyan said implementing SORM will cost “a hell of a lot of money” for equipment, integration, and maintenance. The regulator has made no provision for simplified requirements for small exchanges, and groups of companies will not be allowed to share a single connection point.

“It’s still unclear who would even want to be the first to dive into this brave new world of ‘Russian crypto,’ where Comrade Major [Russian slang for a security services officer] is sitting right there in your online account with you (whether you’re an exchange operator or a customer), with a pair of your keys,” Darbinyan said.