// wiki · analysis · September 2026
Digital law in 2026: concept and new laws
Lecture material from the professional development course “Digital Law — 2026” (topic 1). Rules are stated as of September 2026; assessing a specific situation depends on its circumstances.
The short answer
In Russia there is no “digital law” as a separate branch with its own code — and for practice this is not the main point. A different test is legally significant: does a special rule, register or special procedure appear for your relationship that operates before the general rules of the Civil Code? If it does, you are working in a “digital” regime; if not, these are ordinary rules in new packaging.
Three approaches to the concept
- an independent branch of law — information law has grown into a branch with its own subject; supporters await codification;
- a composite institution — cross-cutting regulation within existing branches: the Civil Code, Federal Law No. 149-FZ on information, No. 152-FZ on personal data, special laws;
- law of the digital environment — not a branch but an environment: the same legal relationships in new channels, like “medical” or “construction” law.
For a deal or a dispute, the argument about the label decides nothing — what decides is the test from the “short answer”.
Novelties of 2024–2026 already in force
- Federal Law No. 243-FZ on artificial intelligence — from 01.09.2026: models with 1bn+ parameters received the “computer program” regime and statuses; liability — on general grounds;
- Federal Law No. 289-FZ on the platform economy — from 01.10.2026: a regime for digital platforms, duties towards participants, dispute procedure;
- Federal Law No. 420-FZ — turnover fines for personal data leaks from 30.05.2025: first leak — up to 15m ₽, repeat — 1–3% of revenue, up to 500m ₽;
- machine-readable powers of attorney — a unified Federal Tax Service technology with exchange through its blockchain platform.
The digital ruble
Stages of mandatory adoption — Federal Law No. 248-FZ of 23.07.2025: from 01.09.2026 systemically important banks open digital wallets for all clients, and sellers with annual revenue above 120m ₽ must accept digital rubles; from 01.09.2027 the threshold drops to 30m ₽ where acquiring is available; by September 2028 the duty extends to all banks.
Legal nature — Federal Law No. 340-FZ of 24.07.2023: the third form of money, an obligation of the Bank of Russia, one-to-one rate. The wallet is opened through an operator bank, but it is neither an account nor a deposit — deposit insurance does not cover it. Operations are final and irrevocable.
For lawyers: review payment clauses in contracts; provide return scenarios given irrevocability (contract termination, erroneous payments); remember that a seller can be obliged to accept digital rubles, but a client cannot be obliged to pay with them.
Digital currency and digital rights: Federal Law No. 282-FZ
The law “On digital currency and digital rights” of 04.08.2026 (main part — from 01.09.2026) restructures the crypto-asset market; Federal Law No. 259-FZ on digital financial assets will lose force gradually.
How the market works: trades — through exchanges, brokers and portfolio managers; custody — with digital depositaries; exchange — with exchange organisations (mandatory above 3.5m ₽ per month). Public circulation is allowed only for large currencies: capitalisation from 5tn ₽ over two years and average daily trading from 1tn ₽. Individuals and non-qualified investors face testing, risk notices and Bank of Russia limits; transfers from 100k ₽ to non-administered addresses and from 300k ₽ to third parties go through a 48-hour “cooling period”.
What is prohibited from 01.09.2026: accepting digital currencies and digital rights as means of payment or counter-performance for goods, works, services. Exceptions: mining rewards and settlements under foreign-trade contracts between a resident and a non-resident. “Pay with crypto” advertising is banned; from 01.07.2027 banks will refuse transfers to “unauthorised recipients”.
For lawyers: contracts settling in crypto assets domestically are a prohibited construction; what must work is a foreign-trade deal clause. The Constitutional Court in ruling No. 2-P of 20.01.2026 confirmed that judicial protection of ownership of digital currency is not conditioned on declaration (a miner’s complaint). From 02.05.2027 individuals report to the tax authority on operations in foreign systems (Federal Law No. 283-FZ); fines for legal entities up to 1m ₽ are being prepared.
Artificial intelligence: Federal Law No. 243-FZ
A large foundational model with 1bn+ parameters is legally a “computer program”; the statuses of “sovereign” and “national” model are introduced; marking of generated content and the training-on-data exception (arts. 8–10) take effect on 01.03.2027; the transition period runs until 01.09.2032. AI has no legal personality: liability arises on general grounds (art. 11). For a detailed map of regulation see the article “Map of AI regulation in Russia”.
Conclusion
Digital law in 2026 is a set of regimes for new objects and actions: money in three forms, tokens with licensed intermediaries, platforms with duties towards participants, models with statuses. The label is secondary; practical value comes from recognising a special rule early.