Moscow Exchange plans Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT trading from December 1

Russia spent years pushing crypto to the margins: the 2021 Digital Financial Assets law treated it as property but banned it as payment, and only in 2024 did Moscow legalise mining outright. Moscow Exchange, the country's dominant trading venue, has operated under Western sanctions since 2022, cut off from major international clearing links. Federal Law No. 282-FZ now gives it a legal basis to build a regulated venue for Bitcoin, Ether and USDT rather than leaving crypto to unregulated over-the-counter desks.

Retail investors without qualified status will face annual purchase caps once trading opens, while qualified investors and institutions get fuller access through licensed brokers rather than foreign exchanges or peer-to-peer platforms. The addressed and non-addressed trading modes let users choose between dealing with a known counterparty or an anonymous order book, a distinction that matters for banks and funds wary of sanctioned counterparties. Extended sessions aim to capture order flow that currently runs through Asian and European hours.

A state-regulated exchange running Bitcoin and Tether trading sits awkwardly against the idea of censorship-resistant, peer-to-peer money, and against Western concern that Russian crypto infrastructure could ease sanctions evasion. Moscow's framing of this as Russia's 'first organised' digital currency market is also a claim about control: purchase limits and broker gatekeeping mean the state decides who trades how much, not an open market. Whether this expands genuine access or simply channels existing flows into a monitored system is the real question.

December 1, 2026 is the date to watch, when Moscow Exchange says trading in Bitcoin, Ether and USDT will actually begin under Federal Law No. 282-FZ. Before then, the Bank of Russia and the exchange still need to finalise which brokers are licensed to onboard clients and set the exact annual purchase thresholds for non-qualified investors. Those two details will determine whether the launch is a narrow pilot for wealthy, qualified traders or a broader retail market.

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