Moscow Exchange, Russia’s largest stock exchange, plans to open trading in bitcoin, ether and Tether’s USDT on Dec. 1, in what it calls the country’s first organized digital currency market.
How trading will work
The exchange announced on Nov. 2 that the first stage will consist of pilot trades, with participants joining the market as they become ready.
Trades will run on its existing stock market infrastructure and be cleared through the National Clearing Center, with hours from 06:50 to 23:50 Moscow time.
Clients will have access to same-day (TOD) and next-day (TOM) settlement, along with swap transactions for managing liquidity.
The exchange said its list of assets will later grow to include both international and Russian instruments.
Speaking on Oct. 8, managing director Boris Blokhin said the exchange had started a pilot about a week earlier and could add crypto trading under its existing licenses.
Limits for retail investors
Non-qualified investors must pass a test before buying and can purchase no more than 300,000 rubles, about $3,700, per year through a single broker, while qualified investors face no cap.
The market will operate under Russia’s new law No. 282-FZ on digital currencies, whose main provisions took effect on Sept. 1.
That law permits regulated trading but keeps a ban on paying for goods and services with crypto.
Sanctions cloud the launch
Moscow Exchange and the National Clearing Center have been under U.S. sanctions since June 2024, when the U.K. also sanctioned the exchange, and the European Union added it to its list in July 2026.
USDT issuer Tether freezes wallets that land on the U.S. Treasury’s sanctions list, and CoinDesk has asked the company how that policy applies to USDT held through the clearing house.
Sergey Mendeleev, founder of cross-border payments platform Exved, doubted the market would draw much demand and told Cointelegraph:
“Neither the global nor the local market will notice anything at all.”
“Neither the global nor the local market will notice anything at all.”
He also warned of “absolutely outrageous spreads” and said:
“For ordinary non-qualified investors, this is an entirely unattractive and unprofitable proposition.”
“For ordinary non-qualified investors, this is an entirely unattractive and unprofitable proposition.”
Still, Mendeleev saw room for the venue to support cross-border payments between importers and exporters, adding:
“I hope this will mark a genuine breakthrough for foreign trade.”
“I hope this will mark a genuine breakthrough for foreign trade.”
