Moscow Exchange to Launch Crypto Trading on December 1 With Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP and TRON
Published October 11, 2026, 02:15 PKT. Based on TASS reporting of October 8, 2026, with coverage from CoinGape, CoinDesk, Crypto Times, TrustsCrypto and Lightning News.
Moscow Exchange, Russia's largest stock exchange, plans to start spot cryptocurrency trading on December 1, 2026. Boris Blokhin, the exchange's senior managing director for sales and business development, confirmed the date on October 8, according to TASS, adding that the venue is already testing the capability with professional traders in a test environment ahead of the production rollout.
Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP and TRON are expected to be the initial cryptocurrencies supported, Blokhin said. The exchange intends to use its existing trading-organizer license and the same infrastructure it runs for the stock market, so it does not expect to need an additional permit under the new rules. Settlement will run through a partner digital depository, with participants opening accounts with the depository, CoinGape reported.
No new venue needed
The exchange will not build a separate system for crypto. Under Russia's new cryptocurrency-market legislation, which took effect on September 1 after President Vladimir Putin signed it in August, the exchange can fold digital assets into its established securities infrastructure. "We will continue testing until launch. We plan to provide this cryptocurrency trading capability on December 1st, in line with the new legislation," Blokhin said, according to the TASS account.
This is a larger step than the exchange's earlier crypto exposure. Moscow Exchange launched perpetual futures tied to Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP and TRON indices last month, but those contracts are quoted in US dollars, settled in Russian rubles and limited to qualified investors. Direct spot trading puts the underlying assets into the same plumbing as the country's equities, CoinGape noted.
The 300,000-ruble retail cap
Access is tiered. Qualified investors will be able to buy all listed cryptocurrencies on the platform and in over-the-counter markets with no amount limit, Blokhin said. Non-qualified investors are restricted to Bitcoin, Ether and USDT, capped at 300,000 rubles, about $3,800, per year through each licensed intermediary, and both groups must pass a knowledge test to participate, Lightning News reported.
The coin list may narrow before launch. While Blokhin named five coins, the Bank of Russia has so far approved exactly three cryptocurrencies for official venues, Bitcoin, Ether and Tether's USDT, chosen on market capitalization, trading volume and overseas price history, according to Lightning News. On October 6 the central bank published its first registers under the new framework: four authorized crypto exchange operators and five digital custodians, including Sberbank and VTB Bank.
A state-supervised on-ramp
Sberbank, the country's largest bank, is racing the exchange to the same date. It plans to launch its own crypto products on December 1 via SberBank Online, SberInvestments and SberBusiness, supporting Bitcoin, Ether and USDT through its existing banking apps, CoinGape reported.
Sberbank's investment arm forecasts the regulated market could reach 3.5 to 4 trillion rubles in its first year and grow to about 7.5 trillion rubles, roughly $87 billion, by 2029. It also expects about 80 percent of activity to stay outside the regulated system in year one, Lightning News reported. Russia still bans using crypto to pay for goods and services, so what the December 1 launch creates is not legal tender but a state-supervised on-ramp: Bitcoin trading on the national stock exchange, inside a legal framework the central bank controls.
This article is news reporting and is not investment advice.
Sources
- TASS, reporting of October 8, 2026, primary source
- CoinGape, "Russia: Moscow Exchange Plans to Launch Crypto Trading in December", secondary source
- CoinDesk, "Moscow Exchange plans crypto trading on December 1", secondary source
- Crypto Times, "Moscow Exchange Plans December 1 Start for Crypto Trading in Russia", secondary source
- Lightning News, "Moscow Exchange To Launch Crypto Trading December 1" (Oct. 9, 2026), secondary source
- TrustsCrypto, "Moscow Exchange Plans Crypto Trading Launch for December 1", secondary source
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