Russia's central bank clears BTC, ETH, USDT for retail trading

Russia's central bank has approved bitcoin, ether and Tether's USDT for purchase by non-qualified retail investors under a 300,000-ruble (~$3,700) annual limit per intermediary, with the rules taking effect Nov. 17 as Moscow Exchange and Sberbank prepare to launch crypto trading on Dec. 1. Moscow Exchange will trade the three assets with clearing through the National Clearing Centre, running 06:50–23:50 Moscow time with same-day or next-day settlement and swaps for liquidity management.

• Qualified investors face no cap; the annual limit applies per broker or intermediary.
• Both the exchange and its clearing house are under U.S. sanctions (blocked since June 2024 with wind-down licenses), and Tether freezes wallets that land on Treasury's sanctions list — a tension the listing surfaces.
• Deputy Chairman Anatoly Popov has estimated trading under Russia's new crypto rules could reach up to 4 trillion rubles (~$49 billion) in the first year.