Russia’s central bank just drew a very short list. Starting July 1, 2026, non-qualified retail investors in the country will only be permitted to trade three digital assets: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT. Everything else is off the table unless you qualify as a professional investor.
Retail investors will also face an annual cap of 300,000 rubles, roughly $4,000, on crypto purchases made through brokers. Cryptocurrency payments within Russia remain flatly prohibited under these rules. Digital assets are classified strictly as property, not currency.
What the new rules actually look like
First Deputy Governor Vladimir Chistyukhin laid out the framework during remarks on June 4-6, 2026. He confirmed the three-token roster and made a point of tamping down expectations for any near-term additions.
The regulations also introduce mandatory risk-awareness testing for all investors, whether qualified or not. Non-qualified investors get the full treatment: testing requirements, the strict token whitelist, and the annual spending cap. Qualified investors still have to pass the risk test, but they’ll face fewer restrictions on which assets they can access and how much they can deploy.
