coindesk.com
Russian consumers’ demand for hardware crypto wallets more than doubled in the first half of 2026, according to data from two major retailers, as the country prepares to introduce new crypto rules.
Retailer M.Video said unit sales on its marketplace rose 107% in the second quarter from the first quarter, while sales by value increased 92%. The retailer did not disclose the number of devices sold.
Wildberries, another Russian retailer, also recorded higher demand. Unit sales rose 84% in the first half from a year earlier, RIA Novosti reported, citing RWB, the marketplace’s parent company. Sales value increased 60% over the period.
The comparisons cover different periods: M.Video measured Q2 against Q1, while Wildberries compared H1 with the same period of 2025. Neither company released unit totals.
Hardware wallets keep the private keys needed to control crypto on a dedicated device, instead of an internet-connected service, helping reduce exposure risk.
Russian law does not ban non-custodial wallets or treat them as illegal, lawyers told RBC. It does, however, bar withdrawals from Russian digital depositories to personal wallets, though a transition period runs until July 1, 2027.
After that, crypto transactions must go through regulated entities, and banks must refuse to process transactions outside that framework. The increase in wallet sales also comes before Russia’s broader crypto regime takes effect Sept. 1.
The framework will allow regulated exchanges and digital depositories, while letting some retail investors buy liquid cryptocurrencies after testing and within a 300,000-ruble annual cap per intermediary, and retains the ban on domestic crypto payments, according to the Bank of Russia.
Hardware wallets still carry technical risks. Coinkite disclosed a Coldcard firmware flaw on July 30 that weakened seed generation, leading to estimated losses of over $116 million.