Russia: the Bank of Russia brings crypto payments under foreign trade contracts into currency control

In brief

• The Bank of Russia signed Directive No. 7489-U of 8 October 2026 amending its currency control instruction. The document is now going through registration with the Ministry of Justice.
• Currency control extends to foreign trade contracts paid fully or partly in cryptocurrency. The Bank of Russia calls them DC contracts, for digital currency.
• Import contracts from RUB 3 million and export contracts from RUB 10 million must be registered. A crypto amount is converted at the market quotation on the contract date.
• A resident files documents on a crypto transfer with its bank no later than 15 working days after the transfer, and the bank records the data in the statement within 2 working days.
• The same rules apply to foreign digital instruments. The directive takes effect 30 working days after official publication, so not before mid-December 2026.

What has changed

Since 1 September 2026 Russia has had a new law on digital currencies and digital rights. It bans accepting cryptocurrency as payment for goods and services inside the country but keeps an exception: it can be used to pay under foreign trade contracts between residents and non-residents. These are contracts for the supply of goods, works, services, and the transfer of information and intellectual property. The exception also covers a Russian agent, commission agent or attorney who helps perform such a contract.

Since paying in cryptocurrency under such contracts is lawful, banks need to monitor it the same way as ordinary currency payments. Directive No. 7489-U rewrites an entire chapter of the Bank of Russia instruction on currency control. Previously it mainly dealt with digital financial assets; now digital currencies, that is cryptocurrency, are described separately. For convenience the Bank of Russia introduced two terms: a DR contract when payment is made in digital rights, and a DC contract when payment is made in digital currencies.

The main point for business: crypto payments no longer fall outside the bank's view. The contract is registered, the bank keeps a bank control statement for it, and every coin transfer must be backed by a document. It is the same logic by which banks have for years tracked dollar and yuan contracts, adjusted for wallets and depositories.

What this means for you. If your company pays foreign partners in cryptocurrency or receives it from them, once the directive takes effect such contracts will be checked by the bank as strictly as currency contracts.

Which contracts must be registered

A DC contract is a foreign trade contract with a non-resident under which digital currencies are used as a means of payment fully or partly. If part of the amount is paid in roubles or foreign currency and part in cryptocurrency, the contract is still a DC contract, and the usual rules apply to the cash part.

The registration thresholds are the same as for ordinary contracts. An import contract is registered if the obligations amount to RUB 3 million or more. An export contract, if the amount is RUB 10 million or more. Registration is needed by the time settlements under the contract reach these thresholds: no later than the deadline for transfer documents, that is 15 working days.

The most practical question is how to convert cryptocurrency into roubles to test the threshold. The directive answers directly: if the contract amount is expressed in a digital currency, it is determined by the market quotation of that cryptocurrency on the date the contract was concluded. If the parties later changed the amount, the date of the latest amendment is used. Market quotation means the highest quotation determined under the rules of the Tax Code. The contract itself may state the amount in cryptocurrency: the bank will record its short Latin name, for example USDT.

When an exporter registers a contract, it gives the bank either contract details or the contract itself. If only details were filed first, the contract itself must be brought to the bank no later than 15 working days after registration. For an import contract documents are filed as agreed with the bank. If the bank holding the contract loses its licence or the contract moves to another bank, and a crypto transfer takes place in the meantime, the new bank must be approached no later than 30 working days after the transfer.

What this means for you. The RUB 3 and 10 million thresholds are calculated at the crypto rate on the contract date, not the payment date. If the rate later rises, the threshold does not change unless you amend the contract amount.

Which documents are due within 15 working days

After each crypto transfer under a DC contract, the resident has no more than 15 working days to file three things with the bank holding the contract. First, the unique contract number. Second, the transaction type code according to its economic substance. Third, a document confirming the crypto transfer by the resident or in its favour to perform the contract.

Which document is acceptable depends on where the cryptocurrency was held. The directive lists the options in detail, and they are easiest to read as a table.

The bank will accept a statement or document only if it contains the required data: the contract number the resident gave the depository or other organisation in advance, the date of the transfer record, the full and short name of the cryptocurrency, the amount transferred, its value at the market quotation on the transfer date, the code of the currency in which the value is expressed, a note if a third party rather than a contract party made the transfer, and the details of the issuing organisation. If the same cryptocurrency is transferred from several addresses on one day under one contract, a combined amount may be shown.

Hence the first practical conclusion: give the contract number to the depository or other organisation before the transfer. Otherwise it will not appear in the statement and the bank will not accept it. The second conclusion: if the payer or recipient is not a contract party but another resident, you will also need that resident's transfer document and the documents on which it made the payment.

What this means for you. Give the contract number to the organisation handling the transfer in advance. Without it the statement will not work for the bank, and 15 working days pass quickly.

If you pay from your own wallet

The hardest case is a transfer from your own wallet that neither a Russian depository nor a foreign organisation administers. The bank then needs a document recording the transfer in the foreign information system, issued or certified by a Russian organisation. Under the law these are organisations that organise the circulation of digital currencies, or registered digital analysis providers. Digital analysis means checking coins and addresses for links to illegal activity. Put simply, a transfer from a personal wallet will have to be confirmed through a professional intermediary.

There is a simpler option. If the resident has given the bank the right to check the transfer record in the foreign system itself, no transfer documents need to be filed: the bank checks the record and enters the data in the statement on its own. The same applies without statements when the bank is also your digital depository: it sees the transfer in its own records. Anyone holding coins in a custodial wallet at a depository attached to their bank will pass control with the least effort.

Imports: where the cryptocurrency came from

Import contracts carry an extra requirement. If a resident pays a foreign supplier in cryptocurrency, it must tell the bank on what basis it obtained that cryptocurrency. The bank will record this in the bank control statement. For example, the coins were received from another buyer under an export contract, bought from a Russian organisation engaged in exchange, or mined.

In effect this is a source of funds check at the level of each payment. A company that bought coins without documents or received them from random sellers will find it hard to explain their origin. How to prepare such evidence is covered in our article on documents proving the source of funds and our news on the Bank of Russia requirements for cash.

What this means for you. For crypto-paid imports it is not enough to confirm the transfer; you must also show where the coins came from. Keep purchase agreements, exchange statements and mining reports.

What the bank does

The bank holding the contract, no later than two working days after receiving the documents, enters the crypto transfer in the payments section of the bank control statement, together with the date of the transfer record. If the bank is itself the depository and keeps the coin records, it fills in this data without documents from the client.

The bank may ask the resident for additional documents and information on transactions with digital rights and digital currencies if it needs them for its records. In practice this means the bank may ask for more than the directive lists, for example correspondence with the counterparty or proof that the delivery really took place. Customer due diligence and anti-money laundering checks still apply.

Foreign digital instruments

A new paragraph 1.7 has been added to the instruction: the rules set for digital currencies also apply to foreign digital instruments. The law defines a foreign digital instrument as property rights issued in an information system not organised under Russian law, unless they are foreign securities. Tokens of foreign platforms are an example.

For business this means that paying with a token instead of cryptocurrency to get around control will not work: the registration procedure and documents will be the same. The transaction type codes also change. New codes cover settlements between residents for the purchase and sale of digital rights and digital currencies where the currency regulation law allows them, and the codes for settlements between a resident and a non-resident have been updated. The old rule under which resident individuals stated transaction codes for settlements in digital currency has been repealed, as have two former codes.

When it takes effect

The directive was signed on 8 October 2026 on the basis of a decision of the Bank of Russia Board of Directors of 29 September 2026. The Bank of Russia website publishes it with a note that the document is undergoing state registration with the Ministry of Justice and may be amended as a result. As of 29 October 2026 the directive has not yet been published on the official legal information portal.

It takes effect 30 working days after the day of official publication. The exact date can only be given after publication. Even if the directive is published in the last days of October, it will not apply before mid-December 2026. So companies have time to prepare contracts and agree with their bank on how documents will be filed. We will update this news once the directive is registered and published.

What this means for you. The directive is not yet in force: first registration with the Ministry of Justice and publication, then 30 working days. That time is worth spending on preparing contracts and talking to the bank.

How it links to the crypto law

The directive implements the new law on digital currencies and digital rights and the accompanying law amending other acts, both signed on 4 August 2026. The law has mostly applied since 1 September 2026, while some provisions on organising crypto circulation and bank refusals of transfers take effect on 1 July 2027. Domestic crypto payments in Russia are banned, foreign trade payments are allowed, and they now have a clear control procedure.

What the law changes for private crypto holders is covered in our news on the P2P ban from 1 July 2027, so we do not repeat it here. Taxes on crypto income are being discussed separately; see our news on the tax of up to 22% on passive income. How tax residence affects tax on cryptocurrency is explained in our article on cryptocurrency and tax residence.

What business should do

Companies and sole traders that already pay or plan to pay in cryptocurrency under foreign trade contracts should take a few steps before the directive takes effect. Check whether the contracts fall within the thresholds and recalculate the amounts at the quotation on the contract date. State in the contract which cryptocurrency is used, in what amount, and how the parties confirm the transfer.

Decide who will handle the payments. It is most convenient to work through a Russian depository attached to your bank or to give the bank the right to check transfer records: then you will not have to collect statements yourself. If you pay from your own wallet, agree in advance with an organisation that will certify the transfer record and find out its timelines. The fifteen working days include the time needed to obtain the document.

If part of the business runs through a foreign company, for example a company in Dubai, remember that Russian currency control rules concern the resident, while a foreign structure faces its own bank and regulator requirements. We help with company registration in the UAE, choosing a jurisdiction and corporate accounts. If you hold a stake in a foreign company, also check the rules on controlled foreign companies.

What private individuals should do

The directive primarily concerns residents who conclude foreign trade contracts, that is companies and sole traders. The law does not allow a private individual to pay in cryptocurrency inside Russia either, and the foreign trade exception is worded for contracts between a resident and a non-resident for goods, works and services. If you are an individual paying a foreign seller or contractor in cryptocurrency under a contract, ask your bank whether such a contract must be registered and which documents it will want to see.

Separately, remember your obligations regarding foreign accounts and wallets, covered in our news on tax authority requests about foreign accounts. On the risks of cash and stablecoin schemes, see our news on blocks over USDT schemes, and the glossary explains what a stablecoin is. If coins need to be moved to a bank abroad, you will need proof of the source of funds; how this works in practice is shown in our news on Bitget leaving Russia.

What to do now

All services for digital asset holders are on our digital assets page. If you need an account for crypto-derived capital, see our crypto capital service; to prove where money came from, source of funds preparation; to pass a bank review, bank compliance. Which banks work with cryptocurrency is explained under the term crypto-friendly bank, and on banks and a second passport there is a separate article. For a business base, see the UAE page. The latest tax and banking news is in the tax and banking section. To go through your situation, book an online consultation; all BRIDGES services are on the home page.

How this article was prepared

Sources: Bank of Russia Directive No. 7489-U of 8 October 2026 amending Bank of Russia Instruction No. 181-I of 16 August 2017, published on the Bank of Russia website with a note that it is undergoing state registration with the Ministry of Justice of Russia; Federal Law No. 282-FZ of 4 August 2026 on digital currencies and digital rights and Federal Law No. 283-FZ of 4 August 2026, published on the official legal information portal. The directive's entry-into-force date can only be determined after its official publication. This article does not replace advice from a currency regulation lawyer.