Stablecoins in Russia: Bank of Russia’s consultation paper

The global stablecoin market more than doubled over the past two years. A stablecoin is a cryptoasset whose value is pegged to an underlying asset, typically a fiat currency. While US dollar stablecoins dominate the global market, various countries are increasingly focusing on issuing national stablecoins to protect their monetary sovereignty. Regulators are making efforts to mitigate the risks associated with using tokens by establishing clear rules in this market.

Russian law does not define the term ‘stablecoin’ but allows issuing digital financial assets (DFAs) with characteristics similar to stablecoins. They may serve as both an investment option and an instrument for cross-border settlements, but are not allowed to be used for domestic settlements. In practice, such DFAs have never been issued so far.

According to certain market participants, a dedicated framework regulating the issuance of ruble stablecoins will emphasise their specific features and increase the demand for them as an instrument for cross-border settlements. Therefore, this raises a number of questions regarding the requirements for stablecoins, namely for par redemption, redemption periods, reserve adequacy, and issuers’ financial resilience.

Nevertheless, the consultation paper proposes preserving the ban on using DFAs and stablecoins in settlements between residents, since this might entail fragmentation in the payment market.

The Bank of Russia would appreciate market participants’ responses to the questions posed in the paper in order to understand whether separate rules for stablecoins are really needed and what they should be. The Bank of Russia welcomes feedback on the consultation paper through 1 September 2026.