In this article6 sections
Russia’s central bank signed a directive on Nov. 6 setting the final terms for regulated cryptocurrency trading, fixing the eligible assets at bitcoin, ether and Tether’s USDT and limiting non-qualified investors to 300,000 rubles of purchases per intermediary in a calendar year. Trading organisers may admit the three assets to public circulation from Nov. 17, Cointelegraph reported.
The instruction, an ukazanie signed by Bank of Russia governor Elvira Nabiullina under Federal Law No. 282-FZ of Aug. 4, takes effect ten days after publication, which turns the Nov. 6 signing into a Nov. 17 start date. The retail ceiling applies to the ruble cost of purchases, not to the value of what an investor holds.
Also read: Sberbank Cleared to Trade Crypto and Custody Assets in Russia
Key facts
- Non-qualified investors may buy up to 300,000 rubles (about $3,700, per Cointelegraph) per intermediary each year; qualified investors face no purchase limit.
- Every investor, regardless of status, must pass a mandatory test before buying, according to the Bank of Russia.
- Sberbank was cleared by the central bank in October to offer crypto exchange services, Cointelegraph reported.
- The Moscow Exchange plans to begin crypto trading on Dec. 1 with pilot transactions in the three assets.
- The asset list requires market capitalisation, average daily volume and at least five years of pricing history on foreign venues to qualify, per the directive.
How the short list was built
The three-asset menu is the substance of the rule, not a footnote. The Bank of Russia said only the most liquid assets made the list and that the criteria are written into the law. USDT is treated in the directive as a foreign digital instrument rather than as a digital currency, a classification that determines its register entry but whose practical effect for a buyer the text does not explain.
Blockchain Reporter noted that the eligibility arithmetic ties the list to foreign data: market capitalisation is measured from a foreign trading organiser’s daily figures, and average volume is calculated across that venue’s trading. Because a five-year pricing history is required, any asset without foreign quotes stretching back before late 2021 cannot qualify this year regardless of its size.
What 300,000 rubles buys
At the central bank’s official rate for Nov. 7 of 82.1386 rubles per dollar, the annual allowance was worth about $3,652, Blockchain Reporter calculated. Using CoinGecko quotes for Nov. 6, that is roughly 0.048 bitcoin at $75,983.91 or 1.64 ether at $2,225.94, meaning a full year of permitted buying comes to less than one-twentieth of a single bitcoin.
The drafting leaves an open question. Clause 2 of the directive frames the limit around purchases made through a broker, while the central bank’s public statement extends the same ceiling to asset managers and crypto exchanges. Blockchain Reporter noted that a client using all three channels would, on a literal reading, face three separate limits, totaling about $10,957, and that no published rule aggregates purchases across intermediaries.
Coins stay on an intermediary’s books
Buying is only part of the regime. The central bank’s guidance, last updated Nov. 3, bars transfers of digital currency from an individual to a non-custodial wallet and prohibits transfers between individuals. Coins bought from Nov. 17 therefore sit in a digital depository account with a licensed intermediary rather than in a personal wallet. Lending against digital currency is restricted to brokers, managers, crypto exchanges and clearing houses.
Direct peer-to-peer trading will be prohibited from July 1, 2027, and Russia maintains its ban on using cryptocurrency to pay for goods and services.
Why it matters
Russia is opening a regulated retail channel for crypto while closing the unregulated one, and the two halves take effect on different schedules. For retail buyers, the shift means price exposure to three assets without custody, plus a questionnaire and a cap; for brokers, managers and exchanges, it creates a licensed business that was previously off limits. Sberbank has projected that regulated crypto trading could reach as much as $46 billion in the first year, a bank estimate rather than an observed result, and Blockchain Reporter noted that figure would require around 12.6 million retail investors spending the full allowance if they alone generated it. That framing is not financial advice, and crypto markets remain volatile and uncertain.
What to watch
The first concrete test is Nov. 17, when exchanges gain the right to admit the three assets. The Moscow Exchange’s Dec. 1 pilot launch follows, and the July 1, 2027 peer-to-peer ban marks the closing half of the regime. How the per-intermediary ceiling is enforced across multiple venues remains unanswered in the text published on Nov. 6.
Reported by Cointelegraph.
Sources: Cointelegraph, Blockchain Reporter