Russia has 20 million encrypted users and plans to pursue criminal responsibility for illegal transactions starting from 2027

Ivan Chebyskov, Deputy Minister of Finance of Russia, stated that there are approximately 20 million cryptocurrency users in Russia, with citizens holding a total of about $44 billion in cryptocurrency assets and a daily transaction volume of about $595 million. Russia is promoting regulation to clarify the rights and responsibilities of all parties, and plans to hold illegal organizations criminally responsible for cryptocurrency trading activities from July 1, 2027, excluding ordinary individual transactions. The Ministry of Finance and the central bank are studying the operation mode of local stablecoins; If assets such as USDT and USDC are frozen due to actions taken by foreign issuers and the Russian custodian institution is not at fault, the relevant losses shall be borne by the investors in principle.