Russia Slaps Fees on "Unfriendly" Coins: USDT, USDC, BNB Caught in the Crossfire 🇷🇺

Russia is moving to impose transaction fees, trading limits and technical safeguards on what it calls "unfriendly" crypto assets, with Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov naming USDT, USDC and BNB on June 9 at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2026). The measures target issuers that have previously frozen wallets tied to sanctioned addresses, namely Tether, Circle and Binance, all Western-linked entities. Freedom Global analyst Vladimir Chernov estimates the fees at 0.5–2% per transaction for broadly classified unfriendly assets, rising to as much as 3% per transaction for dollar-pegged stablecoins.

The rationale cited by officials is investor protection, but the assets singled out share a common feature, namely that their issuers have complied with Western sanctions enforcement. "These could include both technical protection measures and various economic incentives, commissions or recommendations, that would encourage citizens to own other assets," Chebeskov told Izvestia, signaling a preferred direction of capital flow toward ruble-based or BRICS-aligned alternatives.

Separately, Central Bank First Deputy Governor Vladimir Chistyukhin confirmed that from July 1, 2026, non-qualified retail investors will only be able to trade $BTC, $ETH and $USDT under the new Digital Currency and Digital Rights Law, with other assets unavailable to ordinary investors. The framework is being negotiated ahead of the second reading of the State Duma bill formally titled "On Digital Currency and Digital Rights," which passed its first reading 327–13 on April 21, 2026.

That first reading established the bill's skeleton, including five license categories for crypto operators and sweeping supervisory authority. The fees, trading limits and technical safeguards described by Chebeskov at SPIEF 2026 are not yet law and remain subject to legislative negotiation before the second reading takes place.