Russia will officially allow cryptocurrency payments in foreign trade from July 1 (local time). It is seen as an effort to put in place a formal system to bypass dollar payment networks restricted by Western sanctions.

According to blockchain outlet BeInCrypto, Russia will legalise payments using bitcoin (BTC) and stablecoins in import and export transactions. That will allow Russian exporters to receive payment in cryptocurrency from overseas counterparties.

The system was prepared jointly by the Russian central bank and the finance ministry. It largely formalises a framework that has been piloted since 2024. It applies to external settlements with countries that continued trading after Western financial sanctions. Russian authorities plan to impose penalties equivalent to those for illegal banking on illegal cryptocurrency brokerage from mid-2027.

The core is to bring a new payment channel that does not go through the dollar-based international settlement network into the formal system. Russia has faced an urgent need to secure alternative payment methods since 2022, as access to SWIFT and major correspondent banking networks has been sharply restricted. Cryptocurrencies have quickly emerged as a way to bypass those constraints.

Russia's cryptocurrency-based international trade was tallied at about 1 trillion roubles in 2025. Oil, metals and grain exporters are known to have already used crypto payments in transactions with China, Turkey and India, among others. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov (안톤 실루아노프) also publicly supported bringing it into an official regulatory framework.

Once the new system is fully implemented, crypto payments will be possible only on 8 approved platforms. All transactions exceeding 100,000 roubles must be reported to the central bank and Rosfinmonitoring, an anti-money laundering agency. Companies that used informal channels must move to approved platforms or could face penalties equivalent to those for illegal banking from 2027.

Payment methods are not limited to bitcoin. Russian authorities are reviewing the introduction of rouble-linked tokens as well as dollar-linked stablecoins. The idea is to build multiple digital asset systems that can be used to pay overseas invoices.

In the process, cases of stablecoins being used to evade sanctions are again drawing attention. The European Union has banned the A7A5 stablecoin issued in Kyrgyzstan, and it found that some related fund flows were linked to sanctioned entities.

Russia will maintain its policy of banning cryptocurrency use for domestic payments. Legal tender remains limited to the rouble, and it says it aims to block the impact of digital asset price volatility on the internal financial system. It has effectively adopted a "dual structure" that allows cryptocurrency only for external settlements.

A key question going forward is how much Western sanctions systems can track fund flows through this new payment channel. Russia aims in the long term to build an alternative settlement network outside SWIFT, and the pace of participation by BRICS countries after the July rollout is also seen as a major variable.