Moscow Exchange to Launch Bitcoin and Ether Trading on December 1

Moscow Exchange plans to open trading in Bitcoin, Ether and the USDT stablecoin on December 1, 2026, building what it calls Russia's first organized digital currency market on the same infrastructure that runs its stock trading.

The exchange announced the plan on Monday, November 2. Cointelegraph reported the launch plan on November 3, and Crypto Economy carried the same details from the exchange's release. The first trades will be pilot trades, with market participants joining step by step as they are ready, rather than a full opening on day one.

How the market will run

Trading hours will run from 6:50 a.m. to 11:50 p.m. Moscow time. Trades will clear through the National Clearing Center, the same clearing house the exchange uses for its other markets. The venue will offer same-day and next-day settlement, known in market language as TOD and TOM, along with swap transactions. The move takes the exchange from crypto-linked derivatives, which it already lists, into trading the digital currencies themselves.

Who can buy, and how much

Access for ordinary investors is narrow. Buyers classed as non-qualified investors must pass a test before they can purchase crypto on the exchange, and they are capped at 300,000 rubles a year through one broker, about 3,700 dollars. The launch sits inside a Russian crypto law whose main provisions took effect on September 1, 2026. The law allows regulated trading while keeping the ban on using cryptocurrency to pay for goods and services inside Russia.

The sanctions wall around it

The new market opens behind a wall that most global investors cannot cross. Moscow Exchange and the National Clearing Center have been under United States sanctions since June 2024. Britain sanctioned the exchange as well, and the European Union added it to its sanctions list in July 2026. United States persons generally cannot transact with either body. One industry executive quoted in coverage of the plan questioned how much demand a sanctioned venue can draw.

Why it matters

Russia has spent two years moving crypto from a grey zone into a licensed, state-watched market, partly to build payment and trading channels that sit outside Western systems. Putting Bitcoin and Ether on the country's main exchange is the most visible step so far. The December 1 start will show, in trading volume rather than statements, whether Russian brokers and investors use it. Orbit Post is not giving financial advice here, and this report makes no call on any asset. Readers should do their own due diligence.