Russian crypto trading may add $46.4 billion to regulated exchanges in first year

Russia’s largest bank estimates that regulated domestic crypto exchanges could handle about 4 trillion rubles, or $46.4 billion, in trading volume during the first year after legalization. According to Sber Deputy Chairman Anatoly Popov, volumes on regulated platforms could rise to roughly 7.5 trillion rubles by 2029. He said the outlook is limited by the fact that many crypto transactions are still expected to continue on unregulated exchanges outside Russia’s formal market. The projection comes as Russia’s new crypto rules are set to take effect on Sept. 1 following a law signed by President Vladimir Putin on Aug. 4. The central bank has also proposed which assets may be allowed for public trading, including Bitcoin, Ether and Tether’s USDT. Under the new framework, nonqualified investors would face annual purchase limits, while qualified investors would have no such cap on exchange or overthecounter trading.