Moscow Exchange to start Bitcoin trading on Dec. 1
Bitcoin, Ether and USDT to trade from Dec. 1
Moscow Exchange, Russia's largest trading venue, said it will start trading Bitcoin, Ether and Tether's USDT on Dec. 1. The exchange described it as the country's first organized market for digital currencies.
The first phase will run as a pilot. Participants will connect as they are ready. The exchange said interest has come from existing members, their clients, and businesses that already use digital currencies for investment and settlement.
Key details
- Trading starts Dec. 1 as a pilot.
- Bitcoin, Ether and USDT will be listed first. The list may grow over time.
- Non-qualified retail investors must pass a test and are capped at 300,000 rubles a year, about $3,700, through a single broker.
- Qualified investors have no cap.
- Trading hours will be 6:50 a.m. to 11:50 p.m. Moscow time.
- The National Clearing Centre, the exchange's clearing arm, will clear every trade.
How the market will work
Trading will use the exchange's existing stock market technology and follow its stock market hours. The exchange gave the hours to Russian newspaper Vedomosti.
From day one, clients can settle trades the same day or the next day. The exchange will also offer swaps to help participants manage liquidity. Bitcoin, Ether and USDT will trade in both addressed and addressless modes.
Custody will run through partner digital depositaries. This is a new type of entity created under the country's rules. A Moscow Exchange executive first previewed the plan on Oct. 31, and the exchange had first flagged plans for Bitcoin trading in October.
Brokers will connect in the way they do for equities. Trades will net through the same clearing system. Investor classifications will carry over from the stock market. The exchange said this structure keeps crypto inside a regime it already runs and lowers the barrier for banks and brokerages that want to offer Bitcoin without building separate custody and matching systems.
Law, sanctions and USDT
The market rests on Federal Law No. 282-FZ, "On Digital Currencies and Digital Rights." Its main provisions took effect on Sept. 1. The law still bans using crypto for domestic payments. Exporters and importers can use it to settle cross-border trade.
Lawmakers gave securities regulators oversight of crypto last month. The central bank licensed Sberbank for crypto work weeks earlier.
The U.S. Treasury blocked Moscow Exchange and the National Clearing Centre in June 2024. That move was part of a broader push against Russia's financial system over the war in Ukraine. It means the clearing house holding customers' USDT will be a sanctioned entity.
USDT is a stablecoin, a token designed to keep its value near one U.S. dollar. Tether routinely freezes wallets tied to addresses on the Treasury's sanctions list. Neither the exchange nor Tether has publicly addressed how Tether would treat USDT held through the Moscow clearing structure. Bitcoin and Ether have no issuer that can freeze balances in the same way.
What is still unclear
It is not clear how Tether will treat USDT in this structure. It is also an open question whether the caps and testing will keep retail traders on offshore exchanges, and whether foreign liquidity will touch a sanctioned venue.
Russian officials aim to move trading that Russians already do on offshore exchanges and peer-to-peer desks onto domestic, supervised rails. The stated aim is to bring that activity where the state can see it and tax it.
Sources
Newisty Editorial Team covers technology, cryptocurrency, digital products, online platforms, developer tools and the wider digital economy. Our content is researched from official sources, company announcements, public documentation, market data and other primary or reputable sources. Articles are reviewed and edited before publication for clarity, accuracy and useful context.