Russia Proposes Fees and Restrictions on Western-Issued Cryptocurrencies

Russia's cryptocurrency bill, expected to pass the State Duma in June 2026 and take effect July 1, 2026, restricts retail investors to trading only Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT while excluding USDC and BNB. The bill imposes a 300,000 rubles ($4,080) annual investment cap and mandatory testing for retail investors. Russia received $376 billion in cryptocurrency transactions between July 2024 and June 2025, the largest volume in Europe.

Cryptocurrency whitelist restrictions

• ▪Russia's proposed cryptocurrency bill keeps USDC and Binance's BNB off the retail whitelist, treating them as higher-risk because their issuers can freeze assets at the request of foreign authorities
• ▪Tether froze $344 million in funds at the request of US authorities
• ▪Russian Deputy Minister of Finance Ivan Chebeskov said Russia views cryptocurrencies issued by entities that can lock up digital assets at the request of any foreign authority as unfriendly
• ▪Russian regulators were initially ready to prohibit USDT entirely but kept access open after industry pushback while adding protections
• ▪Under Russia's proposed cryptocurrency bill, Russian citizens without qualified-investor status would be allowed to trade only Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT

Proposed fees on foreign tokens

• ▪Freedom Global analyst Vladimir Chernov estimates fees on unfriendly tokens could range between 0.5% and 2%, and up to 3% for unfriendly stablecoins
• ▪Russia's proposed cryptocurrency bill will include economic incentives such as commissions or recommendations to dissuade Russians from using tokens viewed as unfriendly
• ▪Vladimir Chernov warned that excessively high fees on foreign tokens might drive people toward illegal transactions

Exchange licensing requirements

• ▪Russia's cryptocurrency bill is expected to pass the State Duma in June 2026 and take effect July 1, 2026
• ▪Russia's broader regulatory push targets a July 1, 2026 start for mandatory exchange licensing

Retail versus institutional access

• ▪Russia's Central Bank First Deputy Governor Vladimir Chistyukhin said there were no immediate plans to expand the retail cryptocurrency list beyond Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT
• ▪Russia's proposed cryptocurrency bill sets an annual investment cap of 300,000 rubles (about $4,080) for retail investors
• ▪Professional and institutional investors in Russia would retain broader cryptocurrency access under the proposed bill
• ▪Retail cryptocurrency investors in Russia must pass a test and stay within a small whitelist of approved tokens under the proposed bill

Western sanctions on Russian crypto

• ▪The US-sanctioned Grinex exchange suspended operations in April 2026 after a cyberattack that cost the exchange 1 billion rubles ($13.1 million)
• ▪Binance has banned Russian users from its service
• ▪Britain sanctioned 18 entities in May 2026, including HTX, for allegedly supporting Russia's shadow financial systems

Cross-border transaction volumes

• ▪Russia's Central Bank estimated retail cryptocurrency investments at 3.8 billion rubles (roughly $44 million) as of June 1, 2026, essentially unchanged from six months earlier
• ▪Russian traders pay an estimated $15 billion annually in fees to overseas cryptocurrency exchanges
• ▪Chainalysis estimated that Russia received roughly $376 billion in cryptocurrency transactions between July 2024 and June 2025, the largest volume recorded across Europe