A Russian finance ministry official has proposed developing a domestic stablecoin to mitigate future restrictions similar to those imposed on the sanctioned Russian exchange Garantex. Deputy director Osman Kabaloev of Russia’s Finance Ministry highlighted this need after recent freezing actions by US authorities related to Garantex and Tether, as reported by Reuters and TASS. Kabaloev stressed that the Kremlin should explore internal stablecoin solutions akin to USDT to avoid similar future risks.
This proposal comes amidst a series of sanctions targeting Garantex by the US Department of Justice in collaboration with German and Finnish authorities. The company was accused of processing billions in criminal proceeds since launching in 2019. Additionally, Tether froze $27 million worth of its stablecoin on March 6, leading to Garantex halting all operations.
While these events highlight the challenges posed by sanctions and regulatory actions, Russia’s interest in developing a national stablecoin is not entirely new. Evgeny Masharov, member of the Russian Civic Chamber, proposed the creation of a government crypto fund for seized criminal assets, and legislation is underway to recognize crypto as property for criminal proceedings.
The overall market for stablecoins has experienced significant growth since mid-2023, reaching over $200 billion in early 2025. Active stablecoin wallets have also seen a surge by over 50% in one year, according to data from onchain analysis platforms Artemis and Dune.
This increase in stabilitycoin usage coincides with growing adoption in 2024 driven by the increased use of bots, leading to a total stablecoin volume exceeding $27.6 trillion, surpassing Visa and Mastercard’s combined volumes.