Bank of Russia Moves to Let Retail Investors Buy Bitcoin and Crypto

The Bank of Russia has unveiled a new regulatory concept that would, for the first time, allow non‑qualified retail investors to buy approved, highly liquid cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin through licensed intermediaries, capped at about 300,000 rubles per year and subject to a knowledge test. Professional and “qualified” investors would be able to trade a wider range of digital assets without volume limits, though anonymous privacy coins would remain banned and using crypto for domestic payments in Russia would still be prohibited. The proposal marks a major policy shift from calls for an outright ban just a few years ago and underscores how sanctions pressure is nudging Russia toward a more regulated but crypto‑inclusive financial system. Source: Bloomberg