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- Moscow Exchange is testing cryptocurrency trading ahead of a planned December 1 launch.
- Retail investors will face a 300,000-ruble annual purchase limit per intermediary.
- VTB and Sberbank are preparing competing services as Russia brings crypto into its banking and brokerage system.
- New custody restrictions limit how investors can transfer digital assets outside regulated accounts.
Moscow Exchange is preparing to open Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT trading to retail investors on December 1, marking a significant expansion of Russia’s regulated cryptocurrency market.
The exchange has begun testing transactions with professional participants, according to Boris Blokhin, its senior managing director for sales and business development. Speaking on October 8, Blokhin said the venue intended to use an external digital depository for settlement and asset recordkeeping.
The launch follows Russia’s introduction of Federal Law No. 282-FZ, which took effect on September 1 and established a legal framework for cryptocurrency transactions through financial intermediaries.
The legislation creates a different model from the offshore exchanges traditionally associated with digital asset trading. Investors will be able to access cryptocurrencies through regulated brokers and banks, but their holdings will remain subject to custody, transfer and eligibility requirements.
What Retail Investors Can Buy Under the New Rules
The Bank of Russia has divided cryptocurrency access between qualified and non-qualified investors.
Ordinary retail investors must pass a risk assessment before purchasing eligible assets. Their annual purchases are capped at 300,000 rubles through each broker, cryptocurrency exchanger or investment manager.
The limit applies separately to each intermediary rather than automatically aggregating transactions across all providers.
The regulator has identified Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether’s USDT as eligible instruments for non-qualified investors, subject to the relevant admission requirements. Qualified investors have access to a wider range of cryptocurrencies without the same purchase-value ceiling.
Russia Crypto Regulation
Who Can Trade Cryptocurrency?
A comparison of access, purchase limits and custody rules for Russian investors.
Regulatory note: The self-custody restriction concerns transfers from regulated digital accounts to personal non-custodial wallets. Direct P2P cryptocurrency transactions between individuals are scheduled to be prohibited from July 1, 2027.
Source:
Bank of Russia.
USDT’s admission to organized trading remains conditional on Instruction No. 7441-U taking effect.
These distinctions are set out in the Bank of Russia’s August investor guidance and its October regulatory clarifications.
The framework limits retail exposure without excluding ordinary investors from the market entirely.
For example, someone who purchases 250,000 rubles of Bitcoin through one broker would have 50,000 rubles of remaining purchase capacity with that intermediary during the same year. The limit is based on the value of purchases, not a separate allowance for each cryptocurrency.
Buying Bitcoin Will Not Mean Unrestricted Wallet Control
One of the most consequential features of Russia’s framework concerns what happens after a cryptocurrency purchase.
Under the Bank of Russia’s October 12 guidance, individuals cannot transfer digital currency from a regulated digital account to a personal non-custodial wallet.
Transfers between individuals through addresses administered by digital depositories are also restricted.
The regulator has additionally clarified that direct peer-to-peer cryptocurrency transactions between individuals will cease to be permitted from July 1, 2027.
That deadline is important because it affects how cryptocurrency can circulate outside conventional brokerage transactions.
An investor purchasing Bitcoin through a Russian financial institution may gain exposure to its price without receiving the same ability to move the asset to a personal hardware wallet that users expect from international cryptocurrency platforms.
The restriction is not simply a technical custody arrangement. It changes the practical characteristics of holding cryptocurrency through the regulated domestic market.
Russia’s system therefore resembles an intermediated investment service more closely than unrestricted blockchain ownership.
Moscow Exchange Will Separate Trading From Custody
The exchange’s planned service will rely on a partner digital depository rather than holding customer cryptocurrency through its trading infrastructure alone.
Under the legislation, exchanges organize transactions, brokers provide client access and digital depositories record holdings and transfers.
This division follows a familiar principle from traditional securities markets, where trading, settlement and custody can be handled by separate institutions.
The Bank of Russia has introduced dedicated requirements for digital depositories, including capital and operational standards.
Its July regulatory announcement outlined minimum capital requirements ranging from 50 million to 250 million rubles, depending on the institution’s activities.
For Moscow Exchange, the arrangement provides a route into cryptocurrency trading without requiring it to replicate every function of a digital asset custodian.
For customers, however, execution quality and custody reliability will depend on several connected institutions.
The exchange has not yet published complete details on trading fees, liquidity providers or the final list of participating brokers.
VTB and Sberbank Prepare Rival Services
Moscow Exchange’s rollout is part of a wider effort by Russia’s banking sector to establish cryptocurrency services.
VTB expects to offer trading through its VTB My Investments platform in November, followed by a separate cryptocurrency exchange service in December.
The bank has joined the central bank’s registers for cryptocurrency exchangers and digital depositories. Its brokerage operation has also completed an initial stablecoin transaction for corporate clients, according to Interfax.
Sberbank is preparing its own cryptocurrency products for December 1.
On October 12, the central bank added Sberbank to its register of authorized cryptocurrency exchangers, extending its participation beyond digital custody.
The competition introduces an important commercial question: whether customers will prefer dedicated exchange trading or cryptocurrency services integrated into their existing banking applications.
Banks already maintain brokerage accounts, identity verification systems and relationships with retail investors. They can distribute new products without requiring customers to establish entirely separate financial accounts.
Pricing, execution speed and custody arrangements will determine how meaningful that advantage becomes.
U.S. Sanctions Complicate International Liquidity
Moscow Exchange’s cryptocurrency plans also face constraints beyond Russian regulation.
The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Moscow Exchange, the National Clearing Center and the National Settlement Depository in June 2024.
Those restrictions remain relevant to international counterparties even as Russia permits cryptocurrency trading domestically.
Foreign market makers, banks and other financial institutions must consider applicable sanctions before providing services involving designated entities.
That creates potential obstacles for international liquidity arrangements.
USDT presents an additional complication because its issuer operates outside Russia and is subject to its own compliance obligations.
The domestic admission of a stablecoin does not guarantee unrestricted access to its issuer’s services or international settlement infrastructure.
These constraints may affect the ability of Russian trading venues to maintain prices comparable with those on major global exchanges.
A sustained difference between domestic and international prices would be especially relevant to investors evaluating execution costs.
December Launch Will Test Market Liquidity
The legal framework is now taking shape, but the commercial performance of Russia’s regulated cryptocurrency market remains untested.
The first meaningful indicators will be trading volumes, bid-ask spreads, active brokerage participation and the reliability of settlement through digital depositories.
Retail purchase limits may constrain order flow, while qualified investors and institutional market makers could play a larger role in establishing liquidity.
Custody restrictions may also influence demand among cryptocurrency users who consider private-wallet transfers an essential feature of digital asset ownership.
Moscow Exchange and the participating banks are preparing a new distribution channel for cryptocurrencies within Russia’s financial system.
Whether that channel develops into a competitive trading market will depend less on the number of institutions announcing services than on the prices, liquidity and practical ownership rights available to their customers.
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