The United States recently passed the GENIUS Act, providing a clear regulatory framework for stablecoins. Officially, the aim is to regulate this booming market. But for Russia, this initiative hides a much more strategic maneuver: using stablecoins to transfer and devalue part of the $35 trillion US public debt.
More stablecoins for less debt
In June of this year, the US government passed the GENIUS Act, establishing for the first time a clear regulatory framework for dollar-pegged stablecoins.
These cryptocurrencies will have to be backed by reserves (such as government debt securities) supervised by regulators. With this law, the Trump administration is formalizing its ambition to adopt cryptocurrencies, primarily stablecoins.
But is there a deeper strategy behind this initiative?
That’s what Dmitry Kobyakov, advisor to Vladimir Putin, claimed at the Eastern Economic Forum on September 6.
Putin’s advisor Kobyakov: The U.S. has devised a crypto scheme to erase its massive debt at the world’s expense.
“The U.S. is now trying to rewrite the rules of the gold and cryptocurrency markets. Remember the size of their debt—35 trillion dollars. These two sectors (crypto… pic.twitter.com/R4RDeYtaGg
— Russia Direct (@RussiaDirect_) September 8, 2025
According to him, Washington is seeking to “rewrite the rules”:
The United States is now trying to rewrite the rules of the gold and cryptocurrency markets. Remember the size of their debt: $35 trillion. These two sectors are essentially alternatives to the traditional global monetary system. Washington’s actions in this area clearly highlight one of its main objectives: to urgently respond to the loss of confidence in the dollar.
In short, he argues that Trump’s adoption of stablecoins is not driven by genuine enthusiasm for blockchains, but by a strategy to finance part of the debt through them and then gradually devalue it. The aim would be to facilitate its repayment while stimulating demand for government bonds, which are essential to financing his policies. This approach is not surprising: it is a continuation of the (endless) fiscal expansion by governments that began in the early 1970s after the end of the Bretton Woods agreements.
However, the fact that an advisor to the Russian president has expressed this publicly illustrates a growing mistrust of these tools promoted by his opponents, reinforcing Moscow’s recurring criticism of the dollar’s dominance.
Could Russia seize on Bitcoin to compete with dollar-backed stablecoins?
Faced with the rise of dollar-backed stablecoins, now regulated by the GENIUS Act, Russia and its allies are exploring various alternatives to limit their dependence on the dollar, or even attempt to replace it in certain parts of the world.
The first is the issuance of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), a digital ruble that Moscow is already experimenting with, or even a stablecoin backed by the Russian currency. Although this could allow for better monetary control, these solutions remain fragile in the face of international mistrust of Russian management.
The BRICS countries are also considering a joint solution, leveraging the combined influence of China, India, Russia, and its other members. If such a currency were to emerge, it could seriously compete with the dollar, but political and economic agreement within this bloc remains complex.
Finally, there is Bitcoin, a neutral, scarce, global, and censorship-resistant currency. Russia has already understood this by establishing a clear regulatory framework for BTC mining this year, transforming its energy surpluses into a strategic reserve. In the long term, Bitcoin could establish itself as the most robust tool for freeing oneself from monetary manipulation and geopolitical rivalries.
