Russia’s central bank approves Bitcoin, Ether and USDT trading for retail investors

Russia’s central bank has approved Bitcoin, Ether and USDT trading for retail investors, opening the country’s large consumer market to direct crypto exposure under central bank oversight. The approval covers the three largest tokens by market capitalization and extends beyond the wholesale and qualified-investor channels that previously dominated Russian crypto access. The decision matters because Russia has until now kept retail investors at arm’s length from crypto, and a central bank blessing signals a shift in one of the world’s more conservative regulatory postures. It could accelerate adoption domestically and add weight to global arguments for regulated retail access to major tokens. Watch for the operational details still to come—which platforms may serve retail clients, any caps on allocations, and whether the framework expands to tokens beyond BTC, ETH and USDT.