Russia Limits Retail Crypto to Bitcoin, Ether, USDT
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- Russia's central bank will limit retail crypto trading to bitcoin, ether, and USDT on regulated exchanges beginning September 1.
- Non-qualified investors face a 300,000-ruble (approximately $3,600) annual purchase cap per intermediary, while qualified investors have no limit.
- The whitelist adds specifics to July legislation that opened regulated crypto trading from September 1 without naming which assets retail buyers could access.
- Crypto payments inside Russia remain prohibited under current law, separating trading access from payment utility.
- The per-intermediary structure of the 300,000-ruble limit could let investors multiply aggregate exposure by spreading purchases across multiple brokers or exchanges.
Why it matters: The narrow three-coin whitelist keeps ordinary Russians funneled into the most liquid crypto assets while the per-intermediary cap—rather than an aggregate one—gives high-net-worth users a straightforward workaround by opening accounts at several platforms. Qualified investors with no cap hold all the optionality, so the rule formalizes a two-tier market before the September 1 launch.
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