Crypto X says Russia is going 'all in.' Ordinary Russians can buy about $3,600 of crypto a year per broker
Russian exchanges may trade crypto from Nov. 22. Retail buyers get only bitcoin, ether and USDT, capped at 300,000 rubles a year per broker.
Russian exchanges can start trading bitcoin and other crypto from Nov. 22, once the Bank of Russia signs off on their trading rules. Crypto X greeted the news as proof that Russia is going "all in." The fine print is tighter. Ordinary Russians can buy only three coins, bitcoin, ether and USDT, and only up to 300,000 rubles a year through each broker. That is about $3,600, or less than 0.05 bitcoin.
The new rule is a central bank directive on organized crypto trading. Russia's Justice Ministry registered it, and the bank published it on Wednesday, Interfax reported. The country's biggest exchange, Moscow Exchange, plans to open its crypto market on Dec. 1.
What the Bank of Russia approved#
The directive sets the rules any exchange must follow before it lists crypto. Exchanges must register the brokers, trust managers and clearing firms that trade. They must keep records of every order and trade and monitor trading. They must also publish prices, including a current price, a weighted average, a market price and a closing price, according to Interfax and Vedomosti.
Exchanges will report to the central bank the same way they report on stocks and bonds. In other words, crypto is being pulled into the same supervised plumbing as the rest of Russia's market. The legal basis is the law on digital currencies and digital rights, which took effect on Sept. 1.
The limits for ordinary investors#
The headline on X was "all in." The rules for retail buyers say otherwise. On Nov. 6 the central bank named the only coins that non-qualified investors may buy. The list takes effect Nov. 17.
| Rule | Retail investors | Qualified investors |
|---|---|---|
| Coins allowed | Bitcoin, ether, USDT | Any crypto asset |
| Yearly limit | ₽300,000 per broker | None |
| Test required | Yes | Yes |
| Start date | Nov. 17 | Nov. 17 |
Source: Bank of Russia. The bank said it chose the coins by market value, daily trading volume and at least five years of price history on foreign exchanges. It said the goal is to cut risk for less experienced investors.
To put the cap in dollars, we used the Bank of Russia's official rate of 82.55 rubles per dollar for Nov. 11. That makes 300,000 rubles about $3,634. At a bitcoin price near $73,460 on Coinbase Wednesday morning, it buys about 0.049 bitcoin. The bank's wording sets the cap per intermediary, not per person.
The cap is small next to Russia's existing crypto trade. In February, Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov put Russia's crypto turnover at 50 billion rubles a day, CoinDesk reported. Most of that runs through offshore exchanges and peer-to-peer desks.
From a ban proposal to exchange trading#
Four years ago, the same central bank wanted crypto gone. In January 2022 it proposed banning the use and mining of cryptocurrencies in Russia, citing risks to financial stability and to its control of monetary policy. The consultation paper also proposed blocking crypto exchanges.
- Central bank proposes banning crypto use and mining
- Law on digital currencies takes effect
- Moscow Exchange says it plans crypto trading from Dec. 1
- Central bank names bitcoin, ether and USDT for retail buyers
- Exchange trading directive is published
- Retail coin list takes effect
- Exchanges may start crypto trading with approved rules
- Moscow Exchange plans its first crypto trades
Source: Reuters, Bank of Russia, Interfax, Moscow Exchange
Moscow Exchange says crypto will trade from 6:50 a.m. to 11:50 p.m. Moscow time, the same hours as its stock market. It will start with BTC, ETH and USDT, with same-day and next-day settlement and swaps. Its own release repeats the retail rule: a test first, then no more than 300,000 rubles a year through one broker.
There is a sanctions twist. The US Treasury blocked Moscow Exchange and its clearing house in June 2024, CoinDesk noted. USDT's issuer, Tether, freezes wallets that land on the US sanctions list. CoinDesk said it had asked Tether how that policy would apply to USDT held through the exchange's clearing house.
What crypto X is saying#
The loudest posts framed the news as a race with Washington. Crypto Rover, an account with about 1.6 million followers, wrote that "while the US is failing on CLARITY, Russia is going ALL-IN on crypto."
The post refers to the stalled US market-structure bill. The comparison has a factual hook: the US Senate failed to advance broad crypto legislation in September, Reuters reported. But Russia's rules are not a free-for-all. They are a capped, tested and supervised market for three coins.
Wu Blockchain, a widely followed crypto news account, gave the more careful version. It quoted TASS and stressed the condition: exchanges may trade only after they agree on rules with the central bank.
Why it matters#
Russia is trying to pull crypto trading back onshore, where the state can see it. Exchanges, brokers and the central bank will now have records of who trades and at what price. For ordinary Russians, the new door is real but narrow.
For the wider market, the timing is awkward. Bitcoin is trading near $73,500 after slipping below $74,000 this week. In Europe, Germany's largest bank just opened bitcoin custody even as US bitcoin ETFs bleed cash. And in the US, Wall Street's own push to trade tokenized stocks around the clock is meeting pushback from the companies themselves.
Cite this article
Patrick Karsh. “Crypto X says Russia is going 'all in.' Ordinary Russians can buy about $3,600 of crypto a year per broker.” 567 Business. Published 2026-11-11. https://567business.com/news/russia-crypto-exchanges-november-22-retail-cap
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