Russia moves to restrict retail crypto trading to bitcoin, ether and USDT
- Russia’s central bank will limit retail crypto trading to bitcoin, ether, and USDT on regulated exchanges starting September 1.
- Non-qualified investors face a 300,000-ruble (approx. $3,600) annual purchase limit per intermediary, while qualified investors have no cap.
- The rules add specifics to July legislation, though crypto payments inside Russia remain prohibited under current law.
Russia’s central bank will allow retail investors to only trade bitcoin BTC$63,726.88, ether ETH$1,912.69 and USDT on regulated exchanges, making Tether’s dollar-linked token the only stablecoin on the initial list.
The draft rules would limit non-qualified investors to 300,000 rubles (around $3,600) of crypto purchases per year at each intermediary. Qualified investors wouldn’t face the cap.
The whitelist adds detail to legislation passed in July that opens regulated crypto trading from Sept. 1 but did not specify which assets retail investors could buy. Crypto payments inside Russia remain prohibited.
The wording sets the 300,000-ruble limit per intermediary rather than across an investor’s total purchases, potentially allowing larger aggregate exposure through multiple brokers or exchanges.