The Bank of Russia will allow exchanges to begin organized crypto markets on Nov. 22, after each venue first wins approval for its trading rules. The change opens a regulated route for exchange crypto trading, but it does not mean a venue can open automatically on that date.

The ordinance amending rules for organized trading was registered by the Justice Ministry on Nov. 3 and published Wednesday on the regulator’s site. It takes effect 10 days after publication. The Bank of Russia said exchanges must agree on their rules before they start. It has not said whether any venue has completed that review, according to the source report.

Exchange Crypto Trading Requires Prior Approval

The new framework requires exchanges to register the brokers, trust managers and central counterparties involved in crypto trades. Venues must maintain registers of orders and deals, monitor activity, and calculate current, weighted-average, market and closing prices. They must report trading activity to the central bank in the same way they report activity for other assets.

The regulator’s review therefore remains central to the launch timetable. The source identifies no exchange that has cleared review and gives no review duration.

Retail Access Has a Separate Start Date

A separate ordinance, published Nov. 6 and due to take effect Nov. 17, addresses what ordinary buyers may purchase. The Bank of Russia approved bitcoin, ether and Tether’s USDT for non-qualified investors, with exchanges permitted to admit those assets to public trading from that date.

Non-qualified investors may buy through brokers, trust managers or registered crypto exchange offices, on an exchange or over the counter. Purchases through one intermediary are capped at 300,000 rubles a year, roughly $3,600 at the official exchange rate. Qualified investors have no purchase cap.

Both groups must pass a knowledge test and read a risk disclosure before trading. Permitted assets must meet legal tests for market capitalization, average daily volume and at least five years of pricing history on foreign exchanges.

The retail cap also distinguishes Russia’s approach from other regulatory debates about digital assets. Coin Review News has covered a separate proposal in which JPMorgan addressed stablecoin safeguards; that discussion concerns U.S. rules, not Russia’s new trading procedures.

Moscow Exchange Still Targets Dec. 1

Moscow Exchange announced on Nov. 2 that it plans to offer bitcoin, ether and USDT trades from Dec. 1. It described the initial launch as a pilot while participants connect. Trading would use existing stock-market systems from 6:50 a.m. to 11:50 p.m. Moscow time, with the National Clearing Centre clearing deals.

Clients would be able to settle trades the same day or the next. The exchange said in early October, through senior managing director Boris Blokhin, that it would not need additional licenses and would use a partner settlement digital depository. The newly described requirement for central-bank approval of trading rules still applies, and the exchange has not publicly said whether it has approval.

SPB Exchange, the St. Petersburg venue, has said it wants to begin organized crypto trading by year-end. It is building its own settlement digital depository, according to a report by Russian newspaper Vedomosti in October. Neither venue’s timetable establishes that its rules have cleared the central bank.

Federal Law No. 282-FZ, “On Digital Currencies and Digital Rights,” took effect in its main provisions on Sept. 1. It licenses market intermediaries, recognizes crypto as property and opens supervised cross-border trade, while still prohibiting crypto payments for goods and services inside Russia.

Officials are also establishing a self-regulatory body for crypto exchanges and digital depositories. The immediate test is approval of a venue’s rules before its planned launch. The Russian crypto framework and tokenization rule debates offer related context.