Bank of Russia finalises retail crypto rules, limiting buyers to BTC, ETH and USDT
Russia's central bank has issued a directive letting licensed intermediaries offer bitcoin, ether and Tether's USDT to ordinary investors from 17 November. Non-qualified buyers must pass a test and can spend at most 300,000 rubles a year per intermediary, while qualified investors are uncapped. Purchased coins must stay with a licensed provider, as transfers to self-custody wallets are barred, and peer-to-peer trading by unlicensed residents is to be banned from 1 July 2027. The Moscow Exchange still plans to start crypto trading on 1 December.