The Central Bank of Russia is set to restrict retail cryptocurrency trading to just three assets: bitcoin, ether, and USDT, with these changes taking effect on September 1.
Annual Purchase Limits Imposed on Non-Qualified Investors
For non-qualified investors, there will be a maximum purchase limit of 300,000 rubles (approximately $3,600) per year per intermediary. In contrast, qualified investors will not face any purchase restrictions.
This new regulation elaborates on legislation passed in July, which allowed for regulated crypto trading starting September 1, but did not clarify which assets would be available for retail investors. Despite these changes, crypto payments within Russia remain illegal under existing laws.
The newly established whitelist specifies that the 300,000-ruble limit applies to each intermediary, meaning that investors could potentially increase their total exposure by using multiple brokers or exchanges.
Bitcoin BTC$64,201.63, ether ETH$1,914.00, and Tether's USDT will be the only tokens permitted for trading on regulated exchanges, making USDT the sole stablecoin included in this initial list.