Russian Ministry of Finance: 20 Million Cryptocurrency Users, Annual Trading Volume of Approximately $119 Billion

Deputy Minister of Finance Ivan Chebeskov stated that there are approximately 20 million cryptocurrency users in Russia, with the total value of cryptocurrencies and related financial products held by citizens amounting to about 3.7 trillion rubles (approximately $44 billion). The daily trading volume of cryptocurrencies in the country is around 50 billion rubles (approximately $5.95 million), with an annual trading volume of about 1 trillion rubles (approximately $119 billion). Russia's goal of advancing comprehensive regulation is to establish a transparent and legal cryptocurrency market, clarifying the rights and responsibilities of service providers, intermediaries, and investors. Chebeskov also mentioned that Russia plans to hold criminally liable organizations involved in illegal cryptocurrency trading activities starting from July 1, 2027, but ordinary personal transactions will not be included. The Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank are studying the operational models and application scenarios for domestic stablecoins. If assets such as USDT and USDC are frozen due to actions taken by foreign issuers, and there is no fault on the part of Russian custodians, the related losses will, in principle, be borne by the investors.