Russia Slaps Fees on Unfriendly Western Cryptocurrencies

Russia is set to introduce fees and trade restrictions on cryptocurrencies issued by Western companies, targeting those it views as 'unfriendly'. The new bill will include economic incentives such as commissions or recommendations to discourage use of these tokens.

The bill aims to shift billions of dollars in annual trading volume away from international exchanges and into domestic state-owned platforms. Russian citizens without qualified-investor status will be allowed to trade only three tokens: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT. Dollar-backed stablecoins like USDC and Binance's BNB are kept off the retail whitelist due to their issuers' ability to freeze assets at the request of foreign authorities.

The Russian government plans to introduce mandatory investor tests, annual transaction-volume limits, a cool-down period for withdrawals, and restrictions on transferring assets to other wallets. The bill will divide crypto access in Russia between retail and institutional investors, with retail investors facing stricter regulations.