Russian Ministry of Finance: Proposes to lower the entry threshold for the pilot program of cryptocurrency trading and expand the participants

ChainCatcher news, according to Cryptonews citing Russian media RBC and Interfax, Alexey Yakovlev, head of the Financial Policy Department of the Russian Ministry of Finance, stated that they plan to lower the threshold for obtaining "special qualified" investor status to expand the participants in organized cryptocurrency trading under the Central Bank's "Experimental Legal Regime" (ELR).

In March of this year, the Russian Central Bank proposed a three-year pilot program that is only open to "special qualified" investors. The current standard requires holding securities and deposits totaling at least 100 million rubles (approximately $1.23 million), or having an income of at least 50 million rubles (approximately $615,800) in the previous year; the specific reduction amount has not been disclosed, with the goal of improving accessibility while keeping risks manageable.