Russia has set Nov. 22 as the earliest date for exchanges to begin trading digital currencies and digital rights under a new ordinance, but the start remains conditional on the Bank of Russia agreeing to a venue's trading arrangements. The central bank's Nov. 11 notice says the Ministry of Justice has registered the ordinance. It does not name a completed launch at any exchange or provide a forecast for trading volumes.
The date creates a legal opening. It does not establish that every exchange is technically ready or that every prospective customer can place an order on the same morning.
Exchange requirements
Under the announcement, exchanges must register trading participants, maintain records of orders and transactions, and monitor trading. They must also calculate specified prices and report trading information to the central bank using the procedures applied to other assets.
Those requirements concern the organisation of a market: who participates, how activity is recorded and what the supervisor can inspect.
Two dates, two regulatory steps
A separate Bank of Russia announcement on Nov. 6 set a Nov. 17 effective date for an ordinance covering Bitcoin, Ether and USDT. That measure deals with which assets non-qualified investors may access and the conditions attached to their purchases.
Non-qualified investors face an annual purchase ceiling of 300,000 rubles through a single intermediary. Qualified investors are not subject to that asset-list and purchase-limit restriction. The central bank says investors in both groups must pass the relevant test and familiarise themselves with crypto investment risks before transacting.
The two dates therefore describe different steps. One concerns eligible assets and investor conditions; the other concerns organised trading requirements. Neither removes the need to check when a particular intermediary actually makes a service available.
Domestic permission and platform access
A national regulatory opening can exist alongside changes at individual international exchanges. NewsBTC previously reported KuCoin's withdrawal from Russia and Belarus, where affected users' account notices determine their closure deadlines.
Those developments should be assessed separately. A domestic venue's permission does not change another company's service terms, and an international exchange exit does not by itself show when a domestic alternative will be usable.
For a trader, the practical questions include the identity of the intermediary, the assets it supports, how a purchase is funded and where holdings are kept. For an exchange, reliable records and price calculations form part of delivering a functioning service rather than merely announcing one.
What to watch
The market impact depends on participation after services open. An expanded route into Bitcoin could bring additional buyers, but it could also shift activity from one channel to another. Permission alone cannot distinguish those outcomes or establish how much fresh capital will arrive.
NewsBTC reported VTB's conditional plans for direct crypto trading in December 2025. That historical proposal helps explain interest in domestic access, but it is not evidence that the bank has launched a service under the latest rules.
The next meaningful evidence from Russia will be venue-specific launch notices, completed onboarding and observable trading activity. Until those arrive, Nov. 22 is best understood as a conditional regulatory starting point.
