Russia Explores the Creation of National Stablecoins After USDT Wallets Were Blocked

The Ministry of Finance of Russia rate the creation of national stablecoins after the blocking of digital wallets associated with the country that held the USDT token.

The Ministry of Finance of Russia is considering the creation of national stablecoins, an idea that was proposed by Osman Kabaloev, deputy director of the ministry's financial policy department, in response to recent issues faced by the country with the digital wallets holding the USDT token being blocked, reports mk.ru.

The suggestion was made during a meeting of the State Duma Committee for Financial Markets. The topic arose in the context of recent measures taken against Russian companies operating in the cryptocurrency sector.

Earlier this year, the European Union imposed sanctions on Garantex, a cryptocurrency exchange, leading to the suspension of its wallets, which at the time held more than 2.5 billion rubles in USDT. The sanctions were applied after the EU accused Garantex of collaborating with sanctioned Russian banks, including Sberbank and Alfa-Bank, to facilitate operations in order to circumvent international restrictions.

Consequently, Tether, the issuer of USDT, responded by freezing Garantex’s assets, which in turn forced the exchange to halt cryptocurrency trading.

Later, the U.S. Department of Justice announced charges against the main operators of Garantex for their alleged involvement in financial crimes, including an elaborate scheme to launder billions of dollars in cryptocurrency stolen in ransomware attacks, and their role in defrauding investors in a large-scale cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme. The DOJ also stated that Garantex is estimated to have processed more than $96 billion in transactions on behalf of ransomware criminals, and that the platform’s infrastructure was seized by law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and Europe.

Recently, the governor of the Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, confirmed that companies in the country are taking part in an experimental project to use cryptocurrencies in external payments. However, despite this experiment, Nabiullina previously stated her stance against the use of cryptoassets in domestic trade in Russia.

Earlier this year, there were reports that Russia used Bitcoin and USDT for energy trade with China and India. In March, a high-ranking official from the Ministry of Finance revealed that the country is prepared to conduct oil transactions in cryptocurrencies with friendly nations.