Russia Warns Crypto Investors of Foreign Stablecoin Freeze Risks

Russia's Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov has warned investors that they will bear losses if foreign issuers freeze their cryptocurrency assets, highlighting one of the sanctions-related risks facing Russia's rapidly expanding crypto market.

The warning applies particularly to centralized foreign-issued stablecoins, which can be frozen at the issuer level. According to Chebeskov, Russian digital depositories would not be responsible when assets are frozen by overseas issuers for reasons beyond the custodian's control.

Russia estimates that approximately 20 million people in the country now use cryptocurrency, with combined investments totaling around 3.7 trillion rubles ($44 billion). The average daily crypto transaction volume has reached roughly 50 billion rubles ($600 million).