Bank of Russia Approves Bitcoin, Ether, and USDT Trading for Retail Investors

The Bank of Russia has authorized non-qualified retail investors to trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT starting November 17. Under the new regulatory framework, domestic exchanges, brokers, and asset managers can offer these approved digital assets for trading. To mitigate risk, non-qualified retail investors face an annual purchase ceiling of 300,000 rubles (approximately $3,700) per intermediary and must pass a risk assessment test. Qualified and institutional investors are exempt from the caps and asset restrictions. The whitelist requires assets to have at least five years of international trading history.