Ordinary Russians will be allowed to purchase only three cryptocurrencies. $BTC, $ETH and $USDT – once it becomes legal in their country.
The Moscow Monetary Authority has confirmed that it has reviewed the shortlist of approved coins with the largest market capitalization and is against adding more.
Russia gives green light to trading in major cryptocurrencies
The Russian government intends to limit cryptocurrencies available to its citizens to only the three most liquid digital assets.
Non-professional investors will also be allowed to trade Bitcoin ($BTC), Ethereum ($ETH), and Tether’s dollar-pegged stablecoin $USDT.
The exact list of pre-approved coins, first hinted at about a month ago, has been confirmed by a Central Bank of Russia (CBR) official.
The deputy governor told RBC Radio that the monetary authorities have no plans to expand that framework or raise the applicable investment limits for the time being.
Vladimir Chistyukhin was referring to the period after the implementation of Russia’s next law “On Digital Currency and Digital Rights”.
The bill passed its first hurdle in Congress in April and must be adopted and take effect by July 1, 2026.
In an interview, the First Vice-Chairman noted that the CBR had hinted at the possibility of adding coins prior to the bill’s second reading, but further elaborated:
“However, given the initial period after the law takes effect, we do not intend to expand beyond the three currencies of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Bitcoin.” $USDT”
He also emphasized that the Bank of Russia continues to view cryptocurrencies as unstable financial instruments with various risks, including having funds blocked, as in the case of Tether.
According to the virtual currency bill, only virtual currencies that meet a set of strict criteria will be allowed to enter the Russian market, which is regulated for non-qualified investors.
These include an average market capitalization of more than 5 trillion rubles (more than $60 billion) over the past two years, an average daily trading volume of more than 1 trillion rubles over the same period, and at least 5 years of trading history prior to registration.
Russian media have previously commented that this could make the list much shorter and include only major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana (SOL), BNB, and TRON.
Non-dollar stablecoins may be added in the future
Citing Bits.media, Russia’s leading cryptocurrency news outlet, Tystyukhin noted that future expansion will primarily target domestic non-dollar stablecoins and “will not be differentiated from foreign ones.”
He said this would only make sense if more tokens emerge: “There is already one company that has issued a token for international payments and is using it. We will see how this develops. It will probably expand. But not right away.”
Although the banker did not explicitly name it, the ruble-pegged stablecoin, called A7A5, was created by Russian payments platform A7 and is currently being issued by Kyrgyzstan-based company Old Vector, making it the largest non-dollar-based stablecoin in the past year.
The coin has logged more than $110 billion in transactions since its launch early last year, according to a recent study by blockchain security firm CertiK. Russia recognized it as a digital financial asset that could be used in foreign trade to circumvent financial restrictions imposed during the Ukraine war.
These transactions are often processed by licensed entities such as Greenex, a Kyrgyz-registered cryptocurrency trading platform. Greenex, the successor to Russian exchange Galantex, was shut down by the US-led operation in March 2025 when Tether froze $27 million worth of cryptocurrencies. $USDT In that wallet.
In an interview with RBC, Vladimir Chistyukhin also said that he does not think there is a need to increase the previously announced cryptocurrency investment limits for Russian citizens to reduce potential losses. Non-qualified investors can acquire up to 300,000 rubles, or approximately $4,000, of digital assets per year.
