Bitcoin Magazine

U.S.-Sanctioned Moscow Exchange Will List Bitcoin on Dec. 1 as Russia Pulls Crypto Trading Home

Moscow Exchange, Russia’s largest trading venue, will begin trading bitcoin, ether and Tether’s USDT on Dec. 1, the exchange announced this week, calling it the country’s first organized market for digital currencies.

The launch puts bitcoin on the same screens Russians use to trade Sberbank and Gazprom shares. It also puts a major crypto venue inside an institution that sits under U.S. sanctions. The first phase will run as a pilot. Participants will connect as they are ready, and the exchange said interest has come from existing members, their clients and businesses that already use digital currencies for investment and settlement.

Trading will run on the exchange’s existing stock market technology and follow its stock market hours, from 6:50 a.m. to 11:50 p.m. Moscow time, the exchange told Russian newspaper Vedomosti. The National Clearing Centre, the exchange’s clearing arm, will clear every trade.

From day one, clients can settle trades the same day or the next day, and the exchange will offer swaps to help participants manage liquidity. BTC, ETH and USDT will trade in both addressed and addressless modes, and the list is set to grow over time with Russian and international instruments.

Custody will run through partner digital depositaries, a new type of entity created under the country’s rules. A Moscow Exchange executive first previewed the plan on Oct. 31.

Retail access is tight. Non-qualified investors must pass a test before they can buy, and they can purchase no more than 300,000 rubles of digital currency a year, roughly $3,700, through a single broker.

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