The Russian authorities plan to introduce fines for paying for goods and services with cryptocurrency starting in 2026. The draft law will be considered in the State Duma this autumn, according to Anatoly Aksakov, head of the financial market committee, in a comment to «Izvestia».
According to him, fines for individuals will range from 100,000 to 200,000 rubles, while for legal entities, they will range from 700,000 to 1 million rubles. The cryptocurrency used for payments will be confiscated.
The main goal of the initiative is to combat shadow transactions. As noted by Irina Kuyantseva, advisor on corporate law and M&A at BGP Litigation, since 2021, some of these transactions have moved into a grey area: some circumvent sanctions in cross-border transactions using digital assets.
“This hidden practice is precisely what the new draft law on fines targets. The state intends to close the loophole where a ban exists but there is no direct responsibility for its violation, making such operations economically risky,” she stated.
ForkLog surveyed experts to find out who faces fines and why they will not solve the problem of shadow payments.
Who Actually Risks Being Fined
Andrey Tugarin, founder of GMT Legal, explained that the ban on cryptocurrency payments has been in effect since 2021 under law 259-FZ. The restriction applies to digital currencies like Bitcoin, but not to stablecoins.
“The essence of the ban is that digital currency cannot be accepted as payment for the transfer of goods, provision of work, or services,” he noted.
The new measures will primarily affect entrepreneurs—legal entities and individual entrepreneurs. According to Tugarin, for them, receiving payment in cryptocurrency for goods or services will be unequivocally considered a violation. Ordinary users will find themselves in a more ambiguous situation.
“If an individual does not have a clear and understandable answer to the question of where the cryptocurrency came from, as a result of which rubles appeared in their account, such individuals could potentially be fined,” the expert emphasized.
He added that if a user exchanged Bitcoin for rubles through a P2P platform and received money in a bank account, the bank, and subsequently state authorities, may request confirmation of the source of the funds. Without proof of the legality of the transaction, for example, that the cryptocurrency was obtained as an investment rather than from the sale of services, a fine is possible.
Receiving a salary in cryptocurrency also carries risks. According to Tugarin, wages in Russia can only be paid in rubles.
“If it involves receiving a salary in Bitcoin, for example, such individuals will be directly subject to fines,” he clarified.
For stablecoins like USDT, when working with a foreign employer, legal workarounds are possible. However, court practice in Russia is “very varied and sometimes contradictory,” noted the lawyer.
Dmitry Machikhin, founder of BitOK, told ForkLog that those who “cannot turn this process into a legal system” should be concerned. For example, without legalizing income in a “stablecoin” through a declaration or contracts with a foreign employer, an individual may face inspections and fines.
Bans Will Not Solve the Problem of Shadow Payments
Experts agree that fines are ineffective in practice. The state physically cannot track all P2P transfers or cash transactions, emphasized lawyer and founder of Cartesius Ignat Likhunov.
“This does not strengthen the authority of the government, but rather demonstrates its powerlessness in the face of reality,” he noted.
The specialist added that converting digital assets into rubles through P2P platforms or exchangers nullifies the ban. A user can exchange Bitcoin for rubles via a Telegram bot or an unregulated platform and use them for transactions without attracting attention.
Tugarin agreed that controlling crypto transactions will be difficult. According to him, the state will monitor such operations through banks—there are no legal and accountable crypto exchanges in the country. This method will allow identifying rubles obtained from the exchange of digital assets, but not the cryptocurrency transfers themselves.
“There are countless examples of bank inquiries regarding individuals involved in buying and selling cryptocurrency,” he noted.
Machikhin added that control is hindered by the lack of clear distribution of powers among state bodies:
“As always, no one will be responsible until the issue of powers over crypto is unequivocally resolved between Rosfinmonitoring, the Central Bank, and the Federal Tax Service.”
He mentioned the “Transparent Blockchain” service, on which more than 2 billion rubles have been spent since 2016. However, it is not yet operational, which reduces the effectiveness of monitoring, Machikhin added.
Back in July 18, «Sber» proposed transferring the storage of Bitcoins under the control of banks.