Russia limits ordinary investors to bitcoin, ether and USDT

The central bank's liquidity screen narrows the new retail market to three assets and keeps a 300,000-ruble annual purchase cap per intermediary.

By The Third AnglePublished August 12, 2026 at 14:22 UTC3 min read

The State Duma building in Moscow. — The State Duma building in Moscow, illustrating Russia's regulated crypto-market framework. Photo: Yuri D.K. / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0

The Bank of Russia's framework allows non-qualified investors to buy approved liquid assets only after a test and within a 300,000-ruble annual limit through each intermediary. Qualified investors may buy other non-anonymous cryptoassets without that cap after passing their own test.

The list defines access, not official backing

The law takes effect Sept. 1 and routes trading through licensed brokers, managers, exchanges and digital depositories. Crypto still cannot be used for domestic payments, and residents' foreign holdings remain subject to reporting rules.

Selection under a liquidity threshold is not an endorsement of price stability or safety. It determines which assets an ordinary investor can access through the regulated channel. The central bank continues to describe crypto as highly volatile and exposed to sanctions risk.

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