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Moscow Exchange plans to begin trading bitcoin, ether and Tether’s USDT on Dec. 1, with the National Clearing Centre handling trades. Retail investors will need to pass a test and face a 300,000-ruble annual purchase limit through one broker; qualified investors will have no cap. The exchange and clearing house are under U.S. sanctions, and Tether has not yet explained how its wallet-freezing policy applies to USDT held through the clearing house.
Moscow Exchange plans to start trading bitcoin, ether and Tether’s USDT on Dec. 1, bringing the three crypto assets onto Russia’s largest stock exchange under rules that limit ordinary investors’ annual purchases. Trades will be cleared by the National Clearing Centre, which, like the exchange, is under U.S. sanctions.
The exchange said trading will run from 06:50 to 23:50 Moscow time, matching its stock-market schedule. The National Clearing Centre will handle clearing, with same-day or next-day settlement available, as well as swaps intended to help manage liquidity. The announcement names bitcoin, ether and USDT as the assets to be traded; it does not specify every contract or trading pair.
Access will differ by investor category. Ordinary investors must pass a test and may buy no more than 300,000 rubles of crypto per year—about $3,700—through a single broker. The limit does not apply to qualified investors, according to the report. The announcement is a plan for a Dec. 1 launch; the supplied material does not establish that trading has begun.
The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Moscow Exchange and the National Clearing Centre in June 2024 and issued licenses for the wind-down of dealings with them, according to the report. USDT is issued by Tether, which freezes wallets that appear on the Treasury’s sanctions list. CoinDesk said it had requested comment from Tether about how that policy would apply to USDT held through the clearing house; no response is included in the source material.
Sanctions Meet Crypto Settlement
The planned launch puts a major Russian exchange and a U.S.-sanctioned clearing institution in the middle of trading that includes USDT, a dollar-linked stablecoin. That creates a practical question beyond whether the exchange can list the asset: how the issuer’s sanctions controls would apply to tokens associated with accounts or activity processed through the clearing house. The available material does not resolve that question.
The listing could give Russian customers access to crypto trading through a familiar domestic market venue and its broker network. But the annual cap for ordinary investors sharply distinguishes that access from the uncapped route available to qualified investors. The actual scale of trading, and how much activity the exchange might draw from offshore platforms or peer-to-peer desks, remains unknown.
Sanctions also make the announced infrastructure relevant to counterparties and users assessing settlement and access. The Treasury’s past wind-down licenses are part of the background, but the source does not establish what permissions, if any, apply to the planned December service. The announcement alone does not confirm that all operational or sanctions-related questions have been settled.
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Russia’s Crypto Market Measures
The planned exchange launch comes as Russia develops rules for domestic crypto activity. Moscow Exchange is seeking to bring trading onto a regulated venue used for major listed companies, including Sberbank and Gazprom, while the reported retail test and annual purchase cap set boundaries for ordinary customers.
Two estimates in the source material offer context, but they are forecasts or reported figures rather than measures of activity on the new venue. In late August, Moscow Exchange Deputy Chairman Anatoly Popov told TASS that trading under Russia’s new crypto rules could reach as much as 4 trillion rubles, about $49 billion, in the first year. In February, Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov put Russia’s crypto turnover at 50 billion rubles a day.
The report compared Popov’s first-year estimate with a Sberbank figure of about 11 billion rubles a day, suggesting that much trading could remain on offshore exchanges and peer-to-peer desks. Those figures do not establish how much volume Moscow Exchange will capture. The December listing is a planned venue launch, not evidence that the wider market is moving onto the exchange.
“The exchange announced that trading in bitcoin, ether and USDT is scheduled to begin on Dec. 1.”
— Moscow Exchange
Open Questions on USDT Controls
Tether’s response is not included in the available report. It remains unclear how the company’s policy of freezing wallets on the Treasury sanctions list would apply to USDT held or processed through Moscow Exchange’s clearing house, which is itself sanctioned. The source says CoinDesk requested comment.
The supplied information also does not spell out the legal or operational basis for the planned service in light of the sanctions and the wind-down licenses issued in 2024. Nor does it detail the exact instruments, fees, custody arrangements or procedures for handling deposits and withdrawals. These details should not be treated as settled based on the launch announcement alone.
Finally, the projected market figures do not establish expected exchange volume. The amount of trading that will take place on the platform, the split between retail and qualified investors, and whether the scheduled launch proceeds on Dec. 1 remain to be seen.
Details Before the December Launch
The stated next milestone is Dec. 1, when Moscow Exchange plans to begin trading the three assets. Before then, further exchange disclosures could clarify the specific trading products, broker access, settlement procedures and how the investor test and annual retail limit will be applied.
A response from Tether would address the unresolved question about its sanctions-related wallet controls and USDT processed through the National Clearing Centre. The source material does not provide a date for such a response or describe any further regulatory announcement. Whether the exchange opens as scheduled, and what activity it attracts, will only become clear after the launch.
Key Questions
Which crypto assets does Moscow Exchange plan to list?
The exchange plans to begin trading bitcoin, ether and Tether’s USDT on Dec. 1. The source material does not specify all trading pairs or contract terms.
What limits apply to ordinary investors?
Ordinary investors must pass a test and can buy up to 300,000 rubles of crypto per year, about $3,700, through a single broker. Qualified investors do not face that cap, according to the report.
Who will clear the trades?
The National Clearing Centre will handle clearing. The report says settlement will be available on the same day or the next day, with swaps also offered for liquidity management.
Why does the U.S. sanctions status matter for USDT?
Both Moscow Exchange and the National Clearing Centre are under U.S. sanctions. Tether freezes wallets that land on the Treasury’s sanctions list, leaving an open question about how that policy would apply to USDT held through the clearing house. Tether’s response was not available in the source material.
Is the Dec. 1 launch already confirmed as completed?
No. The exchange has announced plans to start trading on Dec. 1; the supplied report does not say that trading has begun or confirm that the launch has taken place.
Source: coindesk.com
