A high-ranking official from Russia’s finance ministry has indicated the nation should consider developing its own fiat-backed stablecoins, potentially pegged to the ruble or other currencies.
This suggestion comes in the wake of recent actions involving Tether (USDT), the widely used U.S. dollar-pegged digital asset. Recent reports surfaced that Tether, the issuer of USDT, restricted access to Russia-associated digital wallets connected to a local crypto exchange facing European Union sanctions.
Osman Kabaloev, serving as the deputy head of the Finance Ministry’s financial policy department, highlighted the need for domestically controlled alternatives following the wallet freeze. “The recent blockage makes us think that we need to consider creating internal tools similar to USDT, possibly pegged to other currencies,” Kabaloev stated on Wednesday.
The specific incident involved Tether blocking wallets associated with Garantex, a Russian digital currency exchange, in early March 2025. This action reportedly froze approximately $28 million in USDT assets. Garantex temporarily halted its operations following the freeze.
The exchange communicated the event, suggesting Tether had initiated hostile action against the Russian crypto sector and warning that other USDT holdings in Russian wallets could be vulnerable.
Adding to the pressure, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Garantex in early April for allegedly facilitating transactions for the Houthi group, imposing sanctions on eight crypto addresses linked to the exchange.
This push towards a potential Russian stablecoin surfaces as digital currencies gain traction globally within payment systems. It also aligns with increased regulatory scrutiny worldwide, including the EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) framework and ongoing legislative efforts concerning stablecoins in the United States.
Developing a sovereign stablecoin could offer Russia an alternative financial channel, particularly as reports indicate Russian companies have increasingly turned to cryptocurrencies for international trade payments amidst widespread economic sanctions. Moscow has shown support for using digital assets in cross-border transactions, representing a significant crypto-related development within the country.