---
title: "Moscow Exchange Targets Crypto Trading Launch in December"
date: 2026-10-12
author: "Kathleen Kinder"
featured_image: "https://coinlaw.io/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/moex-retail-crypto-spot-dec-1-featured-3.jpg"
categories:
  - name: "Cryptocurrency"
    url: "/crypto.md"
tags:
  - name: "News"
    url: "/tag/news.md"
---

# Moscow Exchange Targets Crypto Trading Launch in December

Moscow Exchange (MOEX) plans to open cryptocurrency trading on December 1, 2026, according to Interfax, quoting executive Boris Blokhin at the SberInvest forum. Testing with professional participants began about a week before his October 8 remarks.

## At a Glance

- Blokhin told journalists that the exchange needs no additional permits or licences to launch trading.
- Trades will settle through a partner digital depository, and market participants will open their accounts there.
- Non-qualified buyers face a cap of 300,000 rubles a year with each intermediary, per Bank of Russia draft rules, and may buy only Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether USDT.
- Every investor must pass a test and read the risk disclosures before trading, whatever their status.

## The law sorts firms into exchangers and depositories

[Russia’s law on digital currencies](https://coinlaw.io/russia-crypto-market-law/) and digital rights took effect on September 1, and trades can run through existing exchanges, brokers and trust managers. It also creates two new participant types, crypto exchangers and digital depositories. Exchangers buy and sell the assets, while depositories record the rights to them.

> JUST IN: 🇷🇺 Russia’s Moscow Stock Exchange will allow its 40.1 million clients to invest in Bitcoin and crypto assets 🚀 https://t.co/ZJOxEPWNNv
> 
> — Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) [October 12, 2026](https://x.com/BitcoinMagazine/status/2109643624912986371?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

## The 300,000-ruble cap counts per intermediary

The **Bank of Russia** sets the limit for non-qualified investors at **300,000 rubles a year**. It applies with each intermediary: a broker, a [crypto exchanger](https://coinlaw.io/crypto-exchange-statistics/) or a manager. The notice describes a draft instruction, and comments were accepted until August 24. The cap works per channel, so one investor using two intermediaries meets two separate limits.

The regulator limited these buyers to the most liquid cryptocurrencies, to protect them from sharp and unpredictable price swings. Selection weighs market capitalisation, average daily trading volume and a price history on foreign venues of at least 5 years.

Qualified investors fall outside the cap. They may buy every cryptocurrency traded on exchange and over-the-counter markets, with no amount limit.

## December 1 is a plan, not yet a launch

The start date rests on one executive’s remarks at the **SberInvest forum**, and Blokhin described it as a plan. The exchange is still testing operations with professional participants.

A plan can slip, and [retail demand](https://coinlaw.io/retail-investing-statistics/) will depend on intermediaries being ready. Experts polled by Kommersant FM in August said the market is in a bearish trend, so early demand on the exchange should be small.

**Lawyer Andrei Tugarin** of GMT Legal called [USDT](https://coinlaw.io/usd-coin-vs-tether-statistics/) the most sanctions-exposed asset. He said an issuer’s decision alone, with no court ruling, can freeze holdings. USDT is one of the three coins non-qualified buyers may purchase.

Tugarin pointed to a later date: from **July 1, 2027**, Russian banks must refuse clients who top up crypto wallets on foreign platforms. September 1 marks the start of a transition period, when a central bank registry of participants launches. Together with the per-intermediary cap, the registry and the foreign-platform rule route retail crypto toward venues the regulator can see.