Russia Opens Doors to BTC, ETH Trading, Excludes XRP
Russia's central bank has proposed a framework that would allow non-qualified investors to buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether's USDT through licensed intermediaries. The proposal excludes XRP and other tokens based on market capitalization, average daily trading volumes, and at least five years of price history on foreign exchanges.
The draft framework is open for public comment until August 24th and aims to take effect on September 1st. Non-qualified investors would be limited to purchasing up to 300,000 rubles per year with each intermediary, while qualified investors face no equivalent purchase restriction.
Exchanges, brokers, asset managers, and digital depositories would all be subject to central bank supervision under this framework. The Russian government has been building a regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies since President Vladimir Putin signed a law permitting crypto trading on Russian platforms in 2024.