Unqualified investors will be able to buy digital foreign assets with rating below 'A+' without restrictions - Central Bank of Russia

MOSCOW. April 3 (Interfax) - Unqualified investors will be able to buy digital financial assets (DFA) without limitations and changeable indicators will not determine the payouts, providing the assets or their issuer has a credit rating no lower than "A+" on the national scale and "BB" on the international scale, the Central Bank of Russia said in a statement.

The same rating requirements apply to bonds or their issuer if the DFA certify a right of claim or allow for the rights under them to be exercised.

Unqualified investors are now able to buy DFA within 600,000 rubles whose yield varies from indicators such as inflation, the key rate, the price of precious metals and assets; however, these DFAs or their issuers should have a rating of no less than "AA-" on the national scale and "BB+" on the international scale.

The first cases of default occurred in the DFA market in 2025. Vitaly Plotnikov, Deputy Director of the Central Bank's Financial Market Infrastructure Department, in December said that nearly all defaults involved issuers without a credit rating. There were isolated cases when the issuer had a credit rating at the time of default.

The Central Bank at the end of December said that non-qualified investors would be able to purchase DFA whose payments do not depend on any variable indicators, but only if they have high credit quality. These DFA include debt assets. The regulator promised to set acceptable rating levels at a later date.

DFA are digital analogues of securities that are issued as entries in an information system based on a distributed ledger and certify the investor's rights to an asset.

Debt DFA are assets certifying only monetary claims, a sum paid on their acquisition and any accrued periodical payouts. Obligations for such assets can only be fulfilled with money and their issue is only possible after the buyer pays the established price. Debt DFA made up 98% of the entire volume of DFA placed in 2023-2025, the CBR has said.

The register of operators through which DFA can be issued currently contains 19 organizations: the platforms of Alfa-Bank, Sberbank , T-Bank , VTB , Tokeon PSB , Gazprombank , BCS Holding, Eurofinance Mosnarbank, NSD, MRC, registrar Status, Tokenik, Sinara Bank and Madrigal Information System Operator, Atomyze, Masterchain company, fintech company Lighthouse, SPB Exchange and MTS subsidiary Blockchain Hub.