Strategy co-founder and executive chairman Michael Saylor is urging Bitcoin to pursue a path of disciplined expansion that weaves the asset into the core fabric of conventional finance. In a Friday essay, he argued that Bitcoin’s base layer should be treated as sacred infrastructure, with most innovation taking place on higher layers, including custody systems, credit instruments and the financial plumbing surrounding the network. The thrust is not merely about more spot buyers or ETF inflows, but about embedding Bitcoin within banks, securities, credit markets and capital markets to fuel a sustainable, enterprise-grade adoption cycle.

The remarks come as Bitcoin endures a broad market setback that has strained the two dominant institutional avenues for exposure: passive spot ETF products and corporate/credit-market adoption. Strategy itself has recently sold 32 BTC to fund preferred stock dividends—the first sale since 2022—challenging the long-standing “never sell” ethos associated with Saylor’s corporate strategy and underscoring how liquidity needs canshape a narrative around perceived HODLers.

Data from SoSoValue illustrate the pressure on spot‑based ETF channels: Bitcoin spot ETF weekly net outflows reached roughly $1.42 billion, $1.26 billion and $1.0 billion in the last three weeks of May, with the current week tally already around $1.4 billion. The combination of outflows and price softness has intensified debate over whether Bitcoin’s recent weakness represents a temporary liquidity reset or a broader shift in institutional demand.

Key takeaways

• Michael Saylor’s framework pushes Bitcoin toward disciplined, embedded finance—integrating Bitcoin into balance sheets, securities, banks, brokers, and capital markets—rather than relying primarily on spot ETF inflows.
• Strategy’s sale of 32 BTC to fund preferred stock dividends marks a rare liquidity event that tests the “never sell” premise and highlights the role of corporate treasury needs in the BTC narrative.
• Spot BTC ETF outflows remain large and persistent, challenging the notion that ETF-driven demand will independently sustain a long-term bull run.
• Analysts present a split view on demand: one camp sees potential stabilization if ETF flows and reserves resume, while another cautions that the unwind in ETF narrative and on‑chain signals could delay a durable recovery without real institutional re-entry.

Saylor’s blueprint: Bitcoin beyond ETFs and into the financial system

In his essay, Saylor outlined four broad ideologies shaping Bitcoin discourse—maximalists, capitalists, technologists and fundamentalists—each valuing something essential yet potentially dangerous if taken to an extreme. The “disciplined expansion” concept aligns most closely with the capitalist frame, which treats Bitcoin as digital capital capable of sitting on corporate balance sheets, serving as collateral, and enabling participation across banks, brokers, insurers and asset managers.

That framing marks a shift from a market‑share metric defined by ETF inflows to a broader, infrastructure‑oriented vision. Saylor argues that Bitcoin’s core value proposition lies in its base layer as a foundation for a secure and auditable financial system, while most innovations will occur in higher layers—such as innovative custody architectures, credit instruments and other capital‑markets mechanisms that can leverage Bitcoin as an underlying asset.

Under this lens, Bitcoin becomes less about chasing ETF commissions or price momentum and more about its role as digital collateral and a decentralized store of value that can operate within traditional financial channels. Adopters—from treasuries to insurers and fund managers—could integrate BTC into capital markets operations, using it as a treasury tool, a collateral backbone, or a component of structured finance. The result would be a more embedded form of Bitcoin’s demand, one driven by corporate utility and risk management as much as by consumer or investor appetite.

“Sacred infrastructure” is not a rhetorical flourish here; it signals a deliberate attempt to distinguish the base layer’s reliability and security from the rapidly evolving layers that enable application development and finance. For builders, this signals a conducive environment for custody providers, liquidity facilities, and on‑ramp/off‑ramp ecosystems to mature in tandem with Bitcoin’s deeper integration into financial workflows.

Market signals and the two-channel test for institutional demand

The current market setup has heightened the tension between two institutional channels: the ETF‑driven path and the corporate/credit‑market route. SoSoValue’s ETF flow data show persistent weekly outflows, eroding the confidence that ETF inflows alone can underpin a lasting uptrend. This dynamic invites closer scrutiny of on‑chain signals and balance‑sheet demand as potential confirmatory indicators for a longer‑term reboot of institutional appetite.

Analysts have been quick to parse the implications. Lacie Zhang, a research analyst at Bitget Wallet, cautions that the key question extends beyond whether BTC holds a psychological level of around $63,000. “We need ETF flows to stabilize, exchange reserves to keep falling, and whale accumulation to pick up,” she told Cointelegraph. Her scenario still keeps open the possibility of a retest in the $55,000 to $57,000 area if outflows persist, given the liquidity constraints and leveraged liquidations that have punctuated recent sessions.

On the other side, Nicolai Sondergaard of Nansen offered a more cautious take. He noted that exchange‑flow data suggest participants have used Bitcoin’s bounce—from roughly $61,000 to the low $60,000s—to reduce exposure rather than to add to new long positions. “ETF demand narrative has been unwinding since May,” Sondergaard said, underscoring that a durable recovery would require visible, sustained re‑entry from institutional buyers. Without such participation, the market could struggle to regain momentum even if immediate pressure eases.

These competing readings reflect a broader debate about Bitcoin’s near‑term path. The ETF‑led demand narrative has waxed and waned over the months, and as liquidity conditions swing, traders are left weighing whether the current pullback represents a recalibration or the onset of a more protracted phase of subdued institutional buying. The next several weeks could prove decisive in whether ETF channels stabilize and if on‑chain dynamics or corporate treasury activity begin to offset declines in spot momentum.

What to watch next: a synthesis of embedded finance and market timing

The ongoing discourse around Bitcoin’s integration into the financial system—beyond simple ETF exposure—will likely shape both policy dialogue and investment decisions. If corporations begin to treat BTC as a regular financial instrument—used in treasuries, collateral, and capital‑markets operations—we could see a structural shift in demand that is less sensitive to ETF inflows and more anchored in balance‑sheet strategy and risk management. Conversely, if ETF outflows persist and on‑chain signals remain weak, the recovery may hinge on a gradual re‑establishment of institutional confidence, with a focus on risk controls, liquidity, and custody reliability as prerequisites for broader participation.

Readers should monitor a few concrete indicators in the coming weeks: ETF flow stability, changes in exchange reserves, and the pace of whale accumulation; especially whether new corporate treasury programs or credit‑market facilities materialize for Bitcoin. The tension between the embedded‑finance thesis and ETF‑driven exposure is likely to define the market’s trajectory in the near term, with the long‑run direction depending on how smoothly Bitcoin can be integrated into the existing financial infrastructure while maintaining its core properties.

As Saylor’s framework suggests, the path forward may hinge less on chasing inflows and more on building a robust ecosystem where Bitcoin functions as a trusted, auditable component of financial operations. Whether that vision materializes remains a question for the months ahead, but the ongoing debate signals that the “next phase” for Bitcoin could be less about rapid price moves and more about how deeply it embeds into the machinery of global finance.

Some online chatter seems to speculate that retail investors may be selling crypto to chase the biggest IPO ever.

The Elon Musk-owned rockets, satellite and AI company SpaceX is selling up to 30% of its record $75 billion offering straight to retail investors through Robinhood, Fidelity and Charles Schwab, more than three times the slice a typical IPO sets aside for individuals.

The roadshow opened Thursday already oversubscribed, with more orders than shares on offer, Bloomberg reported. It is offering shares at a $1.8 trillion valuation.

Bitcoin fell roughly 16% over the same timespan and briefly traded below $60,000 before recovering to around $61,000, according to CoinDesk data.

Stablecoins are the most direct way to track money leaving crypto for dollars. A trader cashing out bitcoin to fund a brokerage account converts into a dollar-pegged token like USDC or tether, then redeems it for cash. That shows up two ways, as stablecoins pulled off exchanges and, later, as a shrinking supply when issuers burn the redeemed tokens.

Neither moved of these readings show anomalies, per data assessed by CoinDesk Outflows for USDC and tether stayed inside the range they’ve held since February, according to CryptoQuant data. The largest single days in recent months were $2.5 billion in USDC on May 22 and $3.6 billion in tether on May 20, both came before the sell-off.

Bitcoin and ether did see heavy withdrawals on Friday, 66,470 bitcoin and about 2.49 million ether moving off exchanges, among the biggest single-day totals of the year on CryptoQuant’s data.

An outflow is coins leaving an exchange for a private wallet, which is what a buyer does after taking delivery. Selling does the reverse, coins moving onto exchanges to be sold.

On-chain data has a blind spot, however. It can’t see inside a Robinhood or Coinbase account, where someone can sell bitcoin for dollars without either ever touching a public blockchain.

Whether crypto holders funded their allocations won’t be answerable until the brokerages publish their own numbers. Robinhood reports monthly trading metrics, with June’s crypto volumes due in mid-July, and Coinbase breaks out retail activity in second-quarter results later in the month.

Bitcoin and ether did see heavy withdrawals on Friday, 66,470 bitcoin and about 2.49 million ether moving off exchanges, among the biggest single-day totals of the year on CryptoQuant’s data.

An outflow is coins leaving an exchange for a private wallet, which is what a buyer does after taking delivery. Selling does the reverse, coins moving onto exchanges to be sold. The week’s largest flows look like withdrawal and dip-buying, not a scramble for cash.

The one place money clearly drained from crypto was the funds.

Spot bitcoin ETFs, the exchange-traded products that hold bitcoin directly, bled for 13 straight sessions through June 3, a record stretch worth about $4.4 billion before a small $3 million inflow snapped the streak.

Ether ETFs ran a longer 17-session streak that broke the same day. When investors pull money from these funds the issuer sells the underlying coins, so the redemptions are real selling.

SpaceX prices on June 11 and lists on the Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX the next day.

Zcash (ZEC) has faced fresh scrutiny after a patched Orchard Pool vulnerability sparked a dispute over whether the privacy coin’s users and investors still face hidden risks.

Dragonfly partner Haseeb Qureshi said the market may be treating the bug as a larger immediate threat than the available evidence supports. He also said Dragonfly continues to hold ZEC, even as developers, investors, and privacy advocates debate what the flaw could have allowed before it was fixed.

Qureshi says ZEC fears look overstated

According to Qureshi, the critical issue was not whether the vulnerability was serious, but where its impact would likely have stayed. He said the bug could have allowed someone to create counterfeit ZEC inside the Orchard shielded pool, but he argued that those coins would face a major obstacle once an attacker tried to sell them.

In Qureshi’s view, an attacker would eventually need to move counterfeit shielded ZEC into transparent ZEC before using major exchanges. Since transparent ZEC can be checked against the public supply, he said any attempt to move inflated amounts into visible circulation would be easier for the network to catch.

For that reason, Qureshi said regular exchange users and many traders likely had limited direct exposure. He placed the largest risk on users who kept funds inside the shielded pool while the vulnerability existed.

Qureshi also cited recent Zcash network data to support his argument. He said the shielded pool’s share of supply fell from 31% to 30% over 48 hours after the disclosure.

To Qureshi, that small drop did not show a rush by privacy-focused users to leave the pool. He described the move as modest rather than a sign of panic, while still acknowledging that the bug created a serious debate around Zcash’s private transaction system.

Wei Dai warns attack could be harder to trace

Meanwhile, Zcash creator Wei Dai argued that a successful attacker may not have needed to empty the Orchard Pool. Dai said a careful attacker could have kept fake ZEC inside the shielded environment and moved it slowly through private transfers.

Under that scenario, Dai said the pool itself could have helped hide the movement of counterfeit coins. He also raised another possible risk. If someone discovered the flaw early, Dai said that person could have opened a large short position against ZEC before the bug became public.

Because ZEC trades on liquid perpetual futures markets, Dai argued that a trader could have profited from the later price reaction without leaving clear on-chain evidence of the original exploit.

Worldcoin price has plunged more than 25% after Arthur Hayes closed his entire WLD position, triggering a sharp reversal in one of the crypto market’s strongest AI-linked trades.

According to data from crypto.news, Worldcoin (WLD) price plunged 28% from above $0.56 to around $0.40 on June 6, wiping out a significant portion of the token’s recent rally. The decline left WLD roughly 35% below its recent peak near $0.62 as selling accelerated after Arthur Hayes disclosed that Maelstrom had exited its entire position just days after publicly defending the trade.

The BitMEX co-founder announced the sale in an X post earlier today. 

“This chart is going in the wrong direction. Dumped $WLD. I’m out. See y’all at the clerb.”

The decision represented another major portfolio reduction after Hayes recently disclosed exits from HYPE, NEAR, and Zcash.

Hayes had previously argued that Worldcoin could benefit from enthusiasm surrounding artificial intelligence-related assets and upcoming AI IPOs. By Friday, however, he had abandoned the thesis and cited a changing macro backdrop that included higher energy prices linked to the Iran conflict and growing uncertainty surrounding AI-focused investments.

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The reversal came as speculative sentiment weakened across crypto markets. Bitcoin (BTC) briefly slipped below the $60,000 support area this week, triggering broad risk reduction among traders and contributing to heavy liquidations across altcoins.

Zcash provided an early warning of Hayes’ changing stance. As reported by crypto.news earlier, ZEC crashed nearly 50% from its recent high to an intraday low of $264.80 on June 5 after disclosure of the Orchard shielded pool vulnerability. Hayes subsequently liquidated his entire ZEC position, followed by exits from HYPE, NEAR, and finally WLD.

Technical structure keeps $0.35 as the key battleground

The daily chart shows WLD retreating sharply after failing to hold above the recent breakout area near $0.53. Despite the selloff, WLD price remains above a major support zone around $0.35, a level that acted as resistance throughout February and March before turning into support during the latest advance.

Buyers successfully defended that area multiple times earlier this year, making it the most important level on the chart. A decisive break below $0.35 could expose the next major support near $0.23, where Worldcoin formed its spring bottom.

Momentum indicators present a mixed picture. The MACD remains in bullish territory, with the signal line still above the zero axis following last month’s breakout. At the same time, the Aroon indicator shows Aroon Up near 86 while Aroon Down sits at 0, suggesting the longer-term uptrend has not been fully invalidated despite the recent correction.

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Volume expanded significantly during the recent rally, pushing WLD from roughly $0.23 to above $0.60 in less than two weeks. Such rapid advances often lead to sharp retracements as traders lock in profits and leveraged positions unwind.

Liquidation clusters reveal the next major risk zones

CoinGlass liquidation heatmap data shows a dense concentration of liquidity between $0.45 and $0.48, an area likely to act as the first resistance zone if buyers attempt a recovery. Larger liquidation pools remain stacked near $0.59 and $0.60, close to this week’s local high.

On the downside, leveraged positions are concentrated around the $0.38 to $0.40 region. Price has already entered that area, increasing the risk of additional volatility if sellers continue pressing lower.

Macro conditions remain another source of uncertainty. Stronger-than-expected U.S. labor data has reduced expectations for short-term Federal Reserve easing, while geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have pushed energy prices higher. Both developments have weighed on speculative assets during the past week.

For bulls, defending $0.35 remains the primary objective. Holding above that level would preserve the higher-low structure established since April and keep the possibility of a rebound toward $0.45 alive. A breakdown below support, however, could open the door to a deeper retracement toward the $0.23 base that launched Worldcoin’s recent rally.

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Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.

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Online speculation has tied Bitcoin’s latest drop to retail demand for SpaceX’s record IPO, but crypto flow data has not shown clear evidence of a mass cash exit.

CryptoQuant data reviewed in the report showed no unusual withdrawals of USDC or Tether from exchanges during the selloff. The same data showed stablecoin movements stayed within the range seen since February.

The debate started after Bitcoin price fell about 16% during the same period that SpaceX began marketing its planned public listing. Bitcoin briefly traded below $60,000 before moving back near $61,000, according to market data cited in the report.

Stablecoin flows do not show cash rush

Stablecoins usually offer the clearest public view of crypto traders moving into dollars. A trader who sells Bitcoin to prepare cash for a brokerage account may convert funds into USDC or Tether before redemption.

CryptoQuant data did not show a sharp break in that pattern. The report said the largest recent single-day stablecoin outflows came before the latest Bitcoin decline, with $2.5 billion in USDC on May 22 and $3.6 billion in Tether on May 20.

At the same time, the report said Bitcoin and Ether saw large exchange withdrawals on Friday. CryptoQuant data showed 66,470 Bitcoin and about 2.49 million Ether left exchanges, among the largest single-day totals this year.

Such withdrawals do not usually match panic selling. Coins moving off exchanges often show that buyers took delivery into private wallets after purchases. Sellers usually move coins onto exchanges before selling.

SpaceX IPO draws heavy retail attention

Reuters reported that SpaceX plans to raise $75 billion through its IPO at a $135 share price. Reuters also reported that the company is seeking a valuation near $1.75 trillion, based on sources familiar with the matter.

The listing has drawn attention because retail investors could receive an unusually large share of the offering. Reports said platforms including Robinhood, Fidelity, and Charles Schwab are expected to give individual investors access.

Reuters reported that demand had already reached about $150 billion, or roughly twice the target size of the offering. Final allocations may still change before pricing.

The report said SpaceX is expected to price the IPO on June 11 and begin trading on Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX on June 12.

Brokerage data remains the missing piece

On-chain data cannot show everything. The report noted that a customer can sell crypto inside a Robinhood or Coinbase account and keep the dollars there without moving coins on a public blockchain.

Due to that blind spot, the crypto-to-SpaceX theory may not be settled until brokerages release their own figures. Robinhood reports monthly trading data, while Coinbase reports retail activity in its quarterly results.

Fund data gave the clearest evidence of crypto selling. Public ETF-flow reports showed spot Bitcoin ETFs lost more than $4.3 billion across a record 13-session outflow streak through June 3.

Ether ETFs also posted a 17-session outflow run before the streak ended. In those products, redemptions require issuers to sell the underlying coins, making ETF exits the clearest confirmed source of selling pressure.

Taylor Hornby, the security engineer who used Anthropic’s Opus 4.8 AI model to find a critical bug in Zcash, says privacy coin Monero is among the tokens he intends to audit next.

Asked on X whether he could look for flaws in Monero and other private cryptocurrencies, Hornby replied, “Absolutely! I’ll add Monero to my queue of things to audit.”

Monero, which trades under the ticker XMR, is among the largest privacy-focused cryptocurrency and hides transaction details by default compared to Zcash, where users can either either transparent or shielded addressed.

Hornby found the Zcash flaw on May 29. The bug, in the blockchain’s Orchard privacy pool, had gone undetected since May 2022 and could have let an attacker mint unlimited, undetectable counterfeit ZEC. Shielded Labs, a nonprofit developer on the network, disclosed it on Thursday and pushed through an emergency fix by June 1.

Zcash fell 38% over the following 24 hours amid fallout and concerns about a hacker possibly stealing money from the shielded pool – without leaving any detectable trace – over the past few years.

Hornby, hired by Shielded Labs in April to find protocol bugs before attackers could, said he reported the flaw rather than exploit it because the Zcash developers were “like family” and he could “not live with that kind of betrayal.”

He plans to apply for a Zcash coinholder grant to fund further work.

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs returned to net outflows on Friday after briefly snapping a record withdrawal streak, with BlackRock’s IBIT leading the declines as Bitcoin fell below the key $60,000 support level and investor sentiment deteriorated.

According to data from SoSoValue, the ETFs recorded $325.69 million in net outflows on June 5, reversing the modest $3.05 million inflow posted a day earlier.

The latest withdrawals pushed cumulative net inflows across the category down to $53.94 billion and highlighted continued pressure on institutional Bitcoin demand after nearly three weeks of persistent redemptions.

BlackRock’s IBIT accounted for the largest share of the losses, recording $213.65 million in outflows on June 5. Fidelity’s FBTC and Grayscale’s GBTC followed with withdrawals of $59.69 million and $60.84 million, respectively. VanEck’s HODL and Morgan Stanley’s MSBT were the only products to attract fresh capital, bringing in a combined $8.5 million.

The renewed ETF selling coincided with a sharp decline in Bitcoin prices. According to data from crypto.news, Bitcoin (BTC) price plunged to an intraday low near $59,100 before rebounding above $61,000 at the time of writing. The move pushed the asset to its lowest level since October 2024 and extended a broader correction that has erased more than $15,000 from recent highs.

Why are Bitcoin ETFs seeing renewed outflows?

Recent ETF flow trends have attracted growing attention from Wall Street analysts. In a recent note, Citigroup argued that investors may be underestimating the role ETF demand plays in Bitcoin’s price performance.

The bank also pushed back against the narrative that Bitcoin’s recent decline was primarily driven by Strategy’s decision to sell 32 BTC for preferred stock distributions, arguing that sustained ETF outflows have played a much larger role in weakening prices.

As reported by crypto.news earlier, spot BTC ETFs recorded $2.43 billion in net ETF outflows during May and another $1.40 billion during the first three days of June, which played a major factor behind Bitcoin’s recent weakness. The latest $325.69 million redemption suggests institutional demand still remains fragile despite Thursday’s brief interruption in the outflow trend.

Pressure has also become visible in ETF holdings. Data from CheckonChain shows U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs currently hold approximately 1.277 million BTC. While that figure remains slightly above February levels, it is still roughly 7.2% below the record high reached in October, indicating that funds have not yet recovered the Bitcoin sold during recent redemptions.

Broader market conditions have added to the pressure. Stronger-than-expected U.S. labor market data this week reduced expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts and prompted traders to scale back risk exposure across digital assets.

The shift in sentiment intensified after BNP Paribas abandoned its previous forecast for stable monetary policy and projected three Federal Reserve rate hikes beginning in December, effectively reversing the three rate cuts delivered in 2025.

The bank cited persistent inflation pressures and a resilient labor market as reasons policymakers may need to tighten policy again, helping trigger a wave of selling that pushed Bitcoin below major technical support levels.

This bearish forecast helped trigger a wave of selling that pushed Bitcoin below major technical support levels.

Where could Bitcoin price head next?

Technical indicators suggest Bitcoin is approaching an important decision point after reaching deeply oversold conditions.

On the daily chart, BTC briefly dropped below the Murrey Math support zone near $60,000 before recovering. The daily RSI has entered oversold territory while the MACD continues to trend lower, reflecting strong bearish momentum but also increasing the probability of a relief rally.

According to analyst Kamile Uray, buyers need to defend the current area to prevent a deeper decline.

“BTC experienced a sharp decline along with all markets. It has reached 60,000, which we’ve long referred to as an important level. A strengthening of buyers at this level could at least bring about a rise in the form of a correction to the drop.”

According to Uray, the first resistance level sits around $67,500, followed by a broader resistance zone between $74,000 and $75,000. However, he warned that failure to hold the $60,000 area could expose Bitcoin to a deeper decline toward the $55,000-$50,000 range.

Derivatives positioning also points to heightened volatility ahead. CoinGlass liquidation heatmap data shows large clusters of leveraged positions concentrated between $67,000 and $75,000. If Bitcoin stages a recovery, those levels could become liquidation targets that accelerate upside momentum.

On the downside, analyst Ali Martinez noted that Bitcoin’s 1.0 and 0.8 MVRV pricing bands currently sit at approximately $53,900 and $43,130, respectively, levels he described as historically attractive risk-reward zones during major market corrections.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading near $61,300, leaving traders closely watching whether support around $60,000 can hold as ETF outflows continue to weigh on market sentiment.

TLDR:

• Russia’s central bank limits non-qualified investors to Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT only.
• A 300,000-ruble annual cap per broker applies to retail crypto purchases under the draft law.
• USDT remains on the approved list despite central bank warnings over freezing and burn risks.
• Russia’s digital currency law is set to take full effect on July 1, 2026, after summer passage.

Russia’s central bank has drawn a firm line on crypto access for retail investors. First Deputy Governor Vladimir Chistyukhin confirmed the Bank of Russia will restrict non-qualified investors to three assets: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT.

The decision reflects the regulator’s cautious stance toward digital assets amid high volatility concerns. An annual investment cap of roughly 300,000 rubles, or about $4,100, through a single broker will also apply.

Three Assets, Strict Limits, No Near-Term Expansion

The Bank of Russia has been consistent in its position on retail crypto access. Chistyukhin reiterated that the regulator views cryptocurrencies as high-risk, highly volatile instruments unsuitable as priority investments for everyday Russians. The three-asset list — Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT — reflects the most liquid options currently available.

The 300,000-ruble limit per professional participant was also defended by Chistyukhin. He noted the figure already exceeds the average balance on most Russian brokerage and trust management accounts. From the regulator’s view, this threshold covers exposure without enabling runaway losses.

The central bank also acknowledged requests to expand the list beyond these three assets. Those requests came primarily from parties interested in listing domestically issued stablecoins.

However, the bank made clear that such expansion will only make sense once those assets formally exist and operate at scale.

Chistyukhin was direct on the timeline: “We will start with three currencies, then we will see how the situation develops.”

He added that while the law permits future expansion, no immediate moves are planned. “So they will act,” he said, referring to the three approved assets.

USDT Risks and the Stablecoin Debate

Even as USDT makes the approved list, the central bank did not shy away from flagging its vulnerabilities. Chistyukhin reminded stakeholders that USDT wallets can be frozen or burned by the issuer at any time.

“They can be blocked today, in fact, they can be burned — their owners can be deprived of the right to use these stablecoins,” he said. That risk, he argued, justifies keeping the stablecoin investment cap unchanged.

The stablecoin debate has drawn input from other officials as well. Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov argued that stablecoins from friendly jurisdictions should also be considered.

“It is important for us that stablecoins of friendly jurisdictions are also available,” he said, citing a ruble-pegged token issued in Kyrgyzstan as one example.

Moscow Exchange head Viktor Zhidkov suggested regulators could eventually approve up to five coins for non-qualified investors.

“Our investor buys the main, most popular three to five coins,” he said. Any additions, however, remain subject to regulatory review and formal admission criteria.

The draft law governing digital currency circulation and digital rights passed its first State Duma reading in late April. Lawmakers plan to adopt it before summer, with the full regulatory framework set to take effect on July 1, 2026.

Both qualified and non-qualified investors will be required to pass a knowledge test before purchasing any approved digital assets.