Russia to allow retail Bitcoin, Ether and USDT trading from Nov. 17

Russia’s Bank of Russia will allow non-qualified investors to buy Bitcoin, Ether and USDT from Nov. 17, capping purchases at 300,000 rubles a year for each intermediary, the central bank said in a Friday announcement.

The directive permits crypto exchanges to offer the approved assets for public trading and opens a defined retail route into three cryptocurrencies under a new crypto investment framework. It does not give non-qualified investors unrestricted access to every digital asset.

How is access structured?

Non-qualified investors may buy assets on the Bank of Russia’s approved list, which currently comprises Bitcoin, Ether and USDT. Qualified investors can access any cryptocurrency without the same restrictions and without limits. Both groups must complete an assessment test and review the risks of crypto investments before entering a transaction.

Approved assets will reach non-qualified investors through brokers, asset managers and crypto exchanges, including through over-the-counter transactions. Exchanges can list the approved assets for public trading under the directive, giving retail buyers several defined distribution paths rather than a single venue type.

What does the annual ceiling mean?

For a non-qualified investor, the 300,000-ruble maximum equals 25,000 rubles a month if purchases are spread evenly across a year. The limit applies to each intermediary, not explicitly to the investor’s combined purchases across all firms. Investors using more than one channel therefore face separate annual ceilings at each intermediary under the policy’s wording.

At the intermediary level, each firm must classify the investor as qualified or non-qualified, administer the assessment test, document completion of the risk review and track the annual purchases subject to the ceiling. Qualified clients remain exempt from that volume limit. These steps turn the policy from a simple asset approval into an ongoing client-onboarding and monitoring process.

How is the approved list selected?

The central bank said the list contains only the most liquid digital assets, using criteria established in legislation. Eligibility rests on three stated dimensions:

• Market capitalization.
• Average daily trading volume.
• At least five years of pricing data from international exchanges.

The five-year pricing-history requirement adds a track-record test to measures of asset size and trading activity. The framework therefore separates the assets eligible for non-qualified investors from the broader cryptocurrency universe available to qualified investors, who can transact beyond this approved list.

What does this change for retail investors and intermediaries?

For retail investors, the change is specific: access to Bitcoin, Ether and USDT through multiple intermediary types, subject to testing, a risk review and a 300,000-ruble annual cap per channel. It is not open-ended crypto exposure, and over-the-counter transactions do not sit outside the stated ceiling.

For brokers, asset managers and exchanges, the directive creates a common distribution framework for approved assets and permits public listings where exchanges participate. The practical burden moves to client classification, transaction controls and annual cumulative monitoring, while qualified-investor accounts can support broader crypto access without the same volume ceiling.

For market structure, the initial framework limits the eligible retail universe to three liquid assets and brings exchange trading, brokerage, asset management and over-the-counter execution inside the same test-and-cap structure. The design reflects Russia’s stated aim of balancing crypto-market innovation with caution. The Bank of Russia’s criteria also provide a legislative screening standard rather than leaving eligibility solely to an exchange’s listing decision.

The first hard date is Nov. 17. From that date, intermediaries must put the assessment test, risk review and annual ceiling into operation for non-qualified clients; enforcement of the new distribution framework will become the first test of whether approved-asset access broadens beyond the initial three cryptocurrencies.