Moscow targets traders importing Tether's USDT from abroad

In a crackdown reported Monday, Russia’s Central Bank and commercial banks began blocking transactions tied to a scheme in which traders buy Tether (USDT) in Commonwealth of Independent States countries and sell it for rubles in Russia. The dollar-pegged stablecoin is popular as sanctions limit fiat access and cross-border payments; the arbitrage scheme gained popularity in 2026 and can yield at least 2% per deal, WhiteBird co-founder Sergey Cherechen said. Industry representatives said the practice is technically legal, but the central bank sees a high money-laundering risk because fund origins are insufficiently proven. Russia legalized crypto trading under a September law and will ban peer-to-peer transactions and transfers to self-hosted wallets from July 1, 2027.