Cryptocurrency Payments under Foreign Trade Transactions May Become Available from 2026
On April 21, 2026, the State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted in the first reading draft federal law No. 1194918-8 “On Digital Currency and Digital Rights.” The draft law is aimed at creating comprehensive regulation of the circulation of digital currency, digital rights, the infrastructure of the cryptocurrency market and the status of its participants.
The key idea of the draft law is to bring transactions with digital currency into a regulated legal environment. At the same time, digital currency will not become a full-fledged means of payment within Russia: as a general rule, its use for payment for goods, works, services, securities, digital rights, information and other objects of civil rights will be prohibited.
An exception is proposed for foreign trade settlements. Legal entities and individual entrepreneurs will be able to use digital currency in settlements with foreign counterparties under foreign trade contracts. For businesses, this may become an additional instrument for cross-border payments amid the increasing complexity of international settlements.
If the law is adopted, most of its provisions will enter into force on July 1, 2026.
How the circulation of digital currency will work
It is expected that the purchase, storage, exchange and other transactions with digital currency by residents will be carried out mainly through professional participants admitted to such activity. These will include organizers of digital currency circulation, organizations carrying out the exchange of digital currency, digital depositories and other persons provided for by the draft law.
For the accounting of digital currency and digital rights, it will be possible to open an account with a digital depository. Such accounting will make it possible to confirm that digital assets belong to a specific person and to record transactions with them within a regulated infrastructure.
The Bank of Russia will become the main regulator of the market: it will admit participants to the relevant activity, establish requirements for transactions with digital currency and exercise supervision. Income from transactions with digital currency will be subject to tax accounting.
At the same time, transactions with digital currency without the participation of professional participants will be permitted only in specially provided cases. The main exception concerns foreign trade settlements: residents will be able to use digital currency not accounted for through Russian digital depositories to perform obligations under foreign trade contracts.
In particular, Russian companies will be able to acquire such digital currency using funds held in accounts with Russian banks, electronic money, Russian securities or digital rights, and use it for settlements with foreign counterparties.
A separate regime is provided for miners and persons organizing the activity of mining pools: they will be able to carry out transactions with digital currency received as a result of mining when interacting with non-residents.
Key innovations
1. Introduction of new legal concepts
The draft law introduces new concepts, including “circulation of digital currency,” “organization of digital currency circulation,” “circulation of digital rights” and “organization of digital rights circulation.”
2. Emergence of professional participants in the cryptocurrency market
The draft law provides for the emergence of new categories of market participants, including organizers of digital currency circulation, organizations carrying out the exchange of digital currency, digital depositories and operators of digital rights placement.
A simplified procedure for access to activities related to the organization of digital currency circulation is proposed for existing participants of the experimental legal regime. In addition, a simplified procedure for obtaining licences to carry out cryptocurrency transactions is proposed for existing financial organizations, including banks and brokers.
3. Establishing the Bank of Russia as the regulator of the cryptocurrency market
The Bank of Russia will be vested with powers to admit, regulate and supervise organizers of the circulation of digital currency and digital rights.
The regulator will establish requirements for market participants, determine the procedure for admission to the relevant activity, monitor compliance with the rules for conducting transactions, and set the conditions for investors’ access to certain types of transactions with digital currency and digital rights.
4. Use of digital currency in foreign trade settlements
One of the most significant provisions of the draft law is the possibility for legal entities and individual entrepreneurs to use digital currency in settlements under foreign trade contracts.
The draft law separately permits residents to carry out transactions with digital currency that is not accounted for through Russian digital depositories, provided that such transactions are connected with the performance of obligations under foreign trade transactions. This means that Russian companies will be able to acquire cryptocurrency using roubles and Russian securities and use it for settlements with foreign counterparties.
5. Notification of tax authorities
Residents will be required to notify tax authorities of the opening and closing of foreign identifier addresses used for transactions with digital currency.
It is also expected that reports on transactions with digital currency carried out through such identifier addresses will have to be submitted.
6. Seizure and enforcement against digital currency and digital rights
The draft law provides for the possibility of enforcing claims against digital currency and digital rights, as well as imposing seizure on such assets.
This means that digital assets are now expressly treated as objects of property rights that may be taken into account in court disputes, bankruptcy, enforcement proceedings and recovery procedures.
Practical significance
This draft law is of primary interest to foreign trade participants and miners. The provisions of the draft law represent an attempt to bring cryptocurrency settlements out of the grey zone and create conditions for bypassing sanctions in cross-border settlements.
Cryptocurrency settlements are convenient because they are more difficult for unfriendly agencies to track and also make it possible to make payments without SWIFT. In circumstances where bank payments are often delayed or blocked, settlements in digital currency may become a workable alternative for certain foreign trade transactions.
For the financial market, the draft law opens up a new area of activity: banks, brokers, exchanges, management companies and other professional participants will be able to work with digital currency within the requirements established by the Bank of Russia.
The provisions on seizure and enforcement against digital currency and digital rights are of particular importance. Such assets are effectively included in property turnover: enforcement may be levied against them, which is important for creditors, debtors, courts and bailiffs.
Overall, the draft law preserves the prohibition on cryptocurrency settlements within Russia, but creates a regulated procedure for its accounting, exchange and use in foreign trade settlements. At the same time, the issue of liability for violating the prohibition on settlements in digital currency remains unresolved: a full-fledged system of administrative or criminal sanctions has not yet been formed.
