Russia Limits Retail Crypto to Bitcoin, Ether, USDT
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- Bank of Russia will restrict retail crypto trading to bitcoin, ether, and USDT on regulated exchanges starting September 1
- Non-qualified investors face a 300,000-ruble (~$3,600) annual purchase cap per intermediary, while qualified investors face no limit
- The whitelist fleshes out July legislation that legalized regulated crypto trading but left approved assets unspecified
- The per-intermediary structure of the 300,000-ruble cap means investors can aggregate larger exposure by splitting purchases across multiple brokers or exchanges
- Crypto payments inside Russia remain prohibited under current law despite the new trading framework
Why it matters: The per-intermediary wording lets retail investors multiply exposure by opening accounts at several brokers, blunting the protective cap Russia designed for non-qualified investors. The narrow whitelist also concentrates retail flows into just three assets while shutting out all altcoins entirely.
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