Moscow Exchange to List USDT From December 1, Risks Fall on Buyers

Why USDT can be frozen

USDT is a dollar-pegged token issued by Tether, with a market capitalisation of about $177 billion. Its smart contract has a built-in blacklist, so Tether can freeze any address without a court order or a regulator's approval. Since December 1, 2023, the company has voluntarily frozen wallets tied to people on the US OFAC sanctions list, including addresses listed earlier.

In the 12 months to mid-2026, Tether blacklisted 4,858 addresses and froze more than $2.24 billion; only 3.6% of addresses have ever been unfrozen. Cases involving Russians include the Garantex wallets, frozen at roughly 2.5 billion rubles, and more than 30 addresses worth about $27 million blocked on the day OFAC sanctioned two Russian citizens.

Russian officials acknowledge the danger. PSB head Pyotr Fradkov said Tether freezes funds on instruction from the US administration, and Central Bank First Deputy Chairman Vladimir Chistyukhin called the risk real and serious.

What the rules say

On November 6, the Central Bank approved a list of cryptocurrencies for non-qualified investors: bitcoin, ether and USDT. The order takes effect on November 17, after which exchanges may admit these assets to trading. Non-qualified investors can buy up to 300,000 rubles a year through a single intermediary and must pass a test first.

The core criticism is that the regulator knows about the freeze risk yet leaves it entirely with retail buyers. The author of the analysis has addressed the Central Bank with proposals to share that risk between market participants.