Russia wants a stablecoin in rubles, similar to USDT

Osman Kabaloev, representative of the Russian Ministry of Finance, considers that the sanctions imposed by the West are a weight of weight for the country to advance in the creation of a tool similar to USDT. As explained, this type of instrument would allow active foreign trade.

“The recent blockade leads us to contemplate the creation of internal instruments similar to USDT, potentially backed by other currencies,” said Kabaloev. A measure of this type It would reinforce the current de -drainage strategy of the Russian government.

These statements arrive after, at the beginning of March, Exchange Garantex reported that Tether, the most important stablcoin issuer on the market, there were Blocked wallets on its platform for an amount of more than 2.5 billion rubles. At the time of writing this note, that figure is equivalent to approximately USD 30.3 million, according to TrainingView data.

«Tether has declared the war to the Russian crypto market and has blocked our wallets for an amount of more than 2.5 billion rubles. We are temporarily suspending all services, including cryptocurrency withdrawals, while the entire team works to solve this situation, ”they explained from Garantex.

Before the hardening of Western sanctions in recent years, especially within the framework of the war conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Russian regulators have authorized the use of cryptoactives in international payments. In December 2024, the Minister of Finance, Anton Siluanov, explained in an interview with the Russia 24 channel that the companies in the country were already using assets as Bitcoin for foreign trade. To achieve this, they covered themselves in local legislation that allows the use of these tools to overcome the restrictions imposed by the United States and their allies.

Later, in March, unidentified Fuentes revealed that some oil companies in Russia are using BTC, ETH and USDT to avoid sanctions and continue operating in international trade. According to these sources, Even if the sanctions were raised, it is very likely that cryptoactives continue to be used in transactions related to Russian oil.

It should be noted that, although the financial authorities continue to work in a “central bank digital currency” (CBDC), known as the digital ruble, they recently announced that Its launch was postponed indefinitely. Also, in March, the monetary authority launched an experiment for Bitcoin trading, aimed only to individuals with high purchasing power.

The creation of an internal stablcoin and the renewed, but cautious interest in the adoption of cryptoactives, together with the implementation of the digital ruble, are key steps in the country’s disdaining strategy governed by Vladimir Putin. These initiatives not only seek to mitigate the impact of sanctions, but also to consolidate the financial independence of Russia, positioning it as a more autonomous actor in global trade. However, economic and geopolitical challenges will continue to influence the rhythm of these projects.