Starting in 2026, Russians will be fined for paying in cryptocurrency.

Starting in 2026, Russians will be fined for paying in cryptocurrency. Anatoly Aksakov, head of the State Duma Committee on the financial market, told Izvestia about this.

Estimated burden: the authorities declared the inadmissibility of salaries in cryptocurrency

Why are companies looking for alternative methods of transferring money to employees abroad and what they face for this?

The amount of the fine for individuals will be from 100 thousand rubles, and for legal entities — from 700 thousand rubles. The Federal Law on Digital Financial Assets entered into force in 2021. It prohibits payment in cryptocurrency on the territory of the country. However, in Russia, it is allowed to purchase and sell, invest in and own digital currencies, and mining is allowed.

Since 2021, settlements with digital currencies have partially gone into the gray zone, said Irina Kuyantseva, an adviser to the practice of corporate law and M&A BGP Litigation.

"It is precisely this hidden practice that the new bill on fines is aimed at. The state intends to close the loophole when there is a ban, but there is no direct responsibility for its violation, making such operations economically risky," she said.

One of the most popular industries for payments in crypto is video games, said IT expert Ivan Kalmykov. In addition, according to data for the middle of 2023, 300-400 cryptoprocessing services and bots are operating in Russia, offering assistance in accepting payments for goods and services in cryptocurrencies, said Pen, a junior lawyer. & Paper by Anna Lysenko.

One of these services, the Antarctic wallet, allows you to pay for goods in a stablecoin linked to the dollar — USDT exchange rate and converts it into rubles. Izvestia connected to Antarctic and studied its functionality.