In brief
- The Bank of Russia published a draft directive letting non-qualified investors buy crypto through brokers, capped at 300,000 rubles a year.
- Only Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether's USDT made the approved list for public exchange trading.
- Qualified investors face no such limits; all investors must pass a risk test first.
Russia's central bank has proposed its first framework for letting ordinary investors trade crypto on public markets.
The Bank of Russia published a draft directive on Aug. 11 that would let non-qualified investors buy digital assets through brokers, crypto exchanges or managers—within a strict annual ceiling.
"We're setting a limit on the purchase of cryptocurrencies for non-qualified investors," the central bank said in a separate notice. "Through each intermediary—a broker, crypto exchanger, or manager—they will be able to acquire such assets in the amount of 300 thousand rubles per year."
Which coins, and why only three
The draft names exactly three tokens cleared for public exchange trading: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether’s USDT. The central bank tied the short list to a law signed this month. "The list of digital currencies that the trading organizer is entitled to admit for public circulation on organized trading platforms (hereinafter referred to as the ‘List’): Bitcoin (Bitcoin), Ethereum (Ethereum), Tether USDT (Tether USDT)." the notice reads.
The filter is liquidity and track record. Under the new federal law on digital currencies, a coin's market cap, average daily volume and at least five years of pricing history on foreign platforms decide if it qualifies. "To protect non-qualified investors from sharp and unpredictable fluctuations in cryptocurrency rates, only the most liquid of them will be available to them," the bank said.
The cap itself is written into the directive's operative text. "The maximum amount of the total value of digital currencies acquired through a broker during the calendar year amounts to 300 thousand rubles," Article 2 states.
