Russia restrict Western crypto: BTC, ETH, USDT only for retail

Russia to restrict Western crypto is moving forward with a draft bill from Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov. The plan uses “economic disincentives” such as new fees and access limits to steer retail trading away from tokens regulators can freeze. For retail investors, Russia restricts Western crypto to BTC, ETH, and USDT only, starting July 1, 2026. “Unfriendly” Western-issued tokens would face extra surcharges, with analysts estimating roughly 0.5%–2% per transaction (and potentially up to ~3% for some stablecoins). Other dollar-backed stablecoins (including USDC) and BNB are excluded from the retail whitelist. Beyond pricing, the framework reportedly adds mandatory investor testing, annual trading caps (300,000 rubles), withdrawal cooldowns, and limits on moving assets to external wallets. Mandatory licensing could also block foreign platforms without Russian authorization. A key enforcement angle is DNS-level filtering, where Roskomnadzor may block unlicensed foreign exchanges to make access harder. Chainalysis data cited in the article shows Russia processed about $376B in crypto transactions from July 2024 to June 2025, while domestic retail participation is far smaller. The stated goal is to redirect exchange fee revenue from overseas venues toward domestically regulated exchanges. Market context includes ongoing Western pressure, including UK sanctions and prior disruptions involving sanctioned crypto entities.