- The Bank of Russia published a draft framework on 11 August letting non-qualified investors buy Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether’s USDT through brokers, exchanges and asset managers.
- Purchases would be capped at 300,000 rubles a year with each intermediary, and the limit applies separately to every firm an investor uses.
- XRP and every other token are excluded, on criteria the bank gives as market capitalisation, average daily volumes and at least five years of price history on foreign exchanges.
Russia’s central bank has published a draft framework that would let ordinary investors buy Bitcoin, Ether and Tether’s USDT through licensed intermediaries, while leaving XRP and every other token off the list.
The Bank of Russia set out the proposal on 11 August. It is open for public comment until 24 August, and the bank intends the regime to take effect on 1 September.
Non-qualified investors, the category covering ordinary retail buyers, could trade the three assets through brokers, exchanges and asset managers. Purchases would be capped at 300,000 rubles a year with each intermediary.
That limit applies separately to each firm an investor uses, so someone holding accounts at three brokers would have three separate 300,000-ruble allowances.
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Three Assets, One Test
Qualified investors, the wealthier and more experienced category under Russian securities law, would face no equivalent purchase restriction on eligible crypto through exchange and over-the-counter markets.
Every investor, whatever their status, would have to pass a test and review the risks before trading. Non-qualified investors make up about 98% of current market participants, so the cap would bind almost everyone trading.
Exchanges, brokers, asset managers and digital depositories would all sit under central bank supervision. Crypto stays barred as a means of payment inside Russia, and permitted for cross-border settlement.
The bank has given three criteria for the shortlist: market capitalisation, average daily trading volumes, and a pricing history on foreign exchanges stretching back at least five years. It has not published a verdict on XRP or any other excluded token beyond those tests.
Built on the 2024 Law
The draft extends a framework Russia has been assembling since President Vladimir Putin signed a law permitting crypto trading on Russian platforms and mining, with an experimental regime that took effect on 1 September 2024 and allowed authorised companies to conduct exchange trading and cross-border payments in crypto.
Retail access is the change here: that earlier regime was built around authorised companies, while this draft is aimed at individuals buying through domestic intermediaries. Moscow has also moved to legalise international crypto transfers and has passed legislation setting procedures for freezing and confiscating digital assets.
Any domestic opening runs against the external position. The European Union has moved to ban crypto transactions tied to Russia in its sanctions packages, which limits how far Russian platforms can reach beyond their own borders.
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