Russia's Largest Stock Exchange Tests Bitcoin Trading, Eyes December Launch

The Moscow Exchange intends to offer cryptocurrency trading to clients starting in December and has already initiated testing with professional participants, as revealed by a senior executive last week.

“We are actively testing. We started a week ago,” Boris Blokhin, the exchange’s senior managing director for sales and business development, told journalists on the sidelines of the Sber Investments forum, according to a Thursday Interfax report.

Russia’s largest exchange will collaborate with a partner settlement digital depository, where market participants will open accounts, and does not require any additional permits or licenses to commence trading, Blokhin added.

JUST IN: Russia's Moscow Stock Exchange will allow its 40.1 million clients to invest in Bitcoin and crypto assets pic.twitter.com/ZJOxEPWNNv

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) October 12, 2026

The move follows Russia’s law on digital currencies and digital rights, which came into effect in September and establishes comprehensive crypto regulations in the country.

Trades can be executed through existing infrastructure such as exchanges, brokers, and trust managers. New entrants will also participate, including crypto exchangers—where assets are bought and sold—and digital depositories, which record ownership.

Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, announced last month that it became the first in the country to receive approval to custody bitcoin. The Bank of Russia granted it permission for “digital currency record-keeping” and to facilitate the transfer of such assets, covering bitcoin and other smaller cryptocurrencies.

Russia’s relationship with Bitcoin is complex. President Vladimir Putin in 2024 appeared to praise the original cryptocurrency. “For example, Bitcoin, who can ban it? Nobody,” he said at a forum at the time.

However, the Kremlin maintains strict control over citizens’ use of crypto. Using cryptocurrency as a payment method has been illegal in Russia since 2022; unqualified investors are limited to buying bitcoin and stablecoins capped at 300,000 rubles ($3,556) per year through a single intermediary.

Qualified investors face no limit and may purchase any cryptocurrency traded on exchange and over-the-counter markets.

President Putin in October signed a law to solidify the regulation of digital currencies and digital rights in the country.