Russians will be prohibited from using cryptocurrency for payments beginning in 2026, with fines of up to RUR 100,000 ($1,250) for individuals and RUR 700,000 ($8,750) for businesses, according to Anatoly Aksakov, head of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets.
The move highlights Russia’s contradictory stance on digital assets. While the government has established a closed-end mutual investment fund focused on cryptocurrency mining and allowed futures trading, it is now imposing penalties for using crypto as payment within the country, noted Sergei Khestanov, an economist and associate professor at RANEPA.
Interesting parallels emerge with the USSR’s approach to foreign currency: the country actively sought to earn foreign currencies and used them extensively in foreign trade, yet domestic currency circulation was criminalized (Article 88, colloquially known as the “Butterfly” law). Sergei Khestanov believes a similar framework is now taking shape in Russia regarding cryptocurrency.
“As a key consequence of this system in the USSR, there was a massive (by a wide margin) disparity between the so-called ‘official’ and ‘real’ exchange rates,” the economist emphasizes. “I’m very curious to see whether something similar develops with cryptocurrencies, both inside and outside the Russian Federation.”