Tether USDt (USDT) is among three cryptocurrencies that Russia’s central bank has approved for retail trading through regulated intermediaries starting Nov. 17, 2026, according to Cointelegraph’s report published on Nov. 7, 2026, at 02:47:45 UTC+08:00. Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) are also eligible.
The rules govern access to trading, rather than USDT’s reserves or redemption terms.
Purchase limits and eligibility
Non-qualified investors will be allowed to purchase up to 300,000 rubles, approximately $3,700, in cryptocurrency annually through each intermediary. The intermediaries include brokers, asset managers and crypto exchange providers.
Qualified investors will face no purchase limits. All investors, however, must pass a mandatory test before trading.
The Bank of Russia’s Aug. 11 draft regulations identified BTC, ETH and USDT as eligible for public trading based on market capitalization, average daily trading volume and at least five years of price history on foreign exchanges.
Regulatory rollout
The directive follows legislation signed by President Vladimir Putin on Aug. 4, 2026, establishing a regulated cryptocurrency market under central bank oversight. The law took effect on Sept. 1. In October, the Bank of Russia authorized Sberbank, the country’s largest bank, to offer crypto exchange services.
Moscow Exchange, Russia’s largest securities exchange and a publicly traded company, was preparing to launch cryptocurrency trading on Dec. 1, 2026, initially offering BTC, ETH and USDT through pilot transactions.
Restrictions outside regulated channels
The expansion of regulated trading comes alongside tighter limits on other ways to transact. According to the Bank of Russia, transfers from regulated digital accounts to self-custody wallets were already banned at the time of the report.
Direct peer-to-peer crypto trading will be prohibited starting July 1, 2027. Russia also maintains a ban on using cryptocurrency to pay for goods and services.