Russia’s central bank has approved Bitcoin trading for the public on the country’s crypto exchanges, according to reports.
Citing the Bank of Russia’s Telegram channel, news agency Tass reported that the central bank capped cryptocurrency purchases for retail investors at 300,000 rubles ($3,632) per year.
The news comes as Russia moves fast in regulating the crypto space. President Vladimir Putin has spoken about the benefits of Bitcoin and spoken about how the country has advantages when it comes to crypto mining. But using crypto to pay for goods is still prohibited in Russia.
“According to the law, the selection of cryptocurrencies factors in their market capitalization, average daily trading volume, and foreign exchange pricing history, which must span at least five years for each asset,” TASS reported the Telegram channel saying.
It added that other top cryptocurrencies, including Tether’s USDT stablecoin, were allowed for retail investors too.
Qualified investors will be able to trade a longer list of digital assets, it continued. Qualified investors have no limits on the amount they can trade, a news report earlier this month revealed.
President Putin earlier this month reportedly signed a law to regulate digital currencies and digital rights in the country.
Russian regulators, lawmakers and the central bank have been working to clarify the legal status for digital assets in recent years.
The Russian state still has a tight grip over what its citizens can do with Bitcoin, though. Despite Putin appearing to praise Bitcoin in the past, the use of digital assets to pay for things has been banned for years.
Russian lawmakers have made an exception for international payments — but most likely as a way to dodge Western sanctions.
The U.S. and European governments cut Russia off from the SWIFT payments system after it invaded Ukraine in 2022 and Russian companies have been using Bitcoin to skirt around the penalties, according to the country’s finance minister.