The Moscow Exchange will open cryptocurrency trading to clients in December, and it's already running tests with professional market participants ahead of the launch. The bourse doesn't need any extra permits or licenses to do it — Russia's existing digital currency and digital rights framework covers trades routed through the financial plumbing that's already there: exchanges, brokers, trust managers, plus the newer crypto exchangers and digital depositories.
Sberbank gets the custody green light
Separately, Sberbank has received approval from the Bank of Russia to keep digital currency records and hold Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in custody. That matters because a December launch needs somewhere for the coins to sit. The Moscow Exchange is pairing with a settlement digital depository to handle account management, so the custody layer is being assembled in parallel with the trading venue itself.
What Russian investors can actually buy
Here's where the rules bite. Crypto payments are still flatly banned in Russia — you can trade, you can't pay. And unqualified investors run into an annual ceiling of 300,000 rubles, roughly $3,556, per intermediary. That cap applies across the board, so spreading purchases around doesn't get you past it.
Qualified investors are in a different lane entirely. No investment caps, on exchange or over the counter. The gap between the two groups is the whole story of how Russia is threading this: let the professionals move size, keep retail on a leash.
No new licenses, no new infrastructure
The Moscow Exchange's ability to launch without additional permits isn't an accident. The regulatory framework was built so that crypto trading could slot into the same institutions that already handle conventional assets. Brokers, trust managers, exchanges — they're the pipes. The new crypto exchangers and digital depositories fill in the gaps where the old pipes don't reach.
That's a lighter-touch approach than jurisdictions that force crypto firms into bespoke licensing regimes. Whether it's lighter on enforcement is a different question, and one the December launch will start to answer.
December is the date to watch
Testing with professional participants is underway now. The launch is set for December. Between those two points, the practical questions are about capacity and access: which clients get in first, how the depository arrangement works in practice, and whether the qualified-versus-unqualified split creates a smooth on-ramp or a bottleneck.
The Bank of Russia's approval for Sberbank's custody operation removes one of the obvious blockers. The trading venue has its settlement partner. The licensing question is settled, at least for the Moscow Exchange. What's left is execution — and a hard deadline two months out.
