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Starting September 1, 2026, a new law on digital currencies comes into effect in Russia, legalizing the use of cryptocurrency for foreign trade settlements. But as practice shows, a technically correct USDT transfer is only half the story. The real challenge lies in aligning the same transaction within a company: lawyers, accountants, tax specialists, and banking professionals often see the same deal differently, and this is precisely what causes problems. Acsour experts — CEO Dmitry Karev and Head of Legal Department Lyubov Kuznetsova — recently analyzed this issue in detail in their publications on BeInCrypto and offered practical solutions.
The new regulation opens the door for crypto settlements, but at the same time requires businesses to take a much stricter approach to documenting each transaction. Intermediaries receive official status, digital assets get accounting records, and transactions get identified participants. But even when all formalities are observed, a deal can still fall through if different departments within the company don't reach a common understanding of what happened.
The new regulation opens the door for crypto settlements, but at the same time requires businesses to take a much stricter approach to documenting each transaction. Intermediaries receive official status, digital assets get accounting records, and transactions get identified participants. But even when all formalities are observed, a deal can still fall through if different departments within the company don't reach a common understanding of what happened.
One Payment — Five Perspectives
Imagine a Russian company buying equipment for $100,000, and the supplier agrees to accept 100,000 USDT. For the CEO, it's just a payment. But for the lawyer, it's a matter of contract law; for the bank — foreign exchange control; for compliance — risk assessment; for the accountant — asset recording; for tax authorities — tax calculation. And each of them sees the transaction differently.
The problem arises when these five versions don't match. Formally, each of them may be correct, but together they don't form a coherent picture. According to Acsour experts, this is what most often leads to payment failure — much more often than issues with the asset itself.
The problem arises when these five versions don't match. Formally, each of them may be correct, but together they don't form a coherent picture. According to Acsour experts, this is what most often leads to payment failure — much more often than issues with the asset itself.
Stablecoin Is Not a Legal Term
Before signing a contract or opening an account, you need to understand exactly what you're dealing with. "Stablecoin" is a technical term, not a legal category. Russian law does not have a single definition for all stable tokens.
The Bank of Russia distinguishes between different types of stablecoins. Those backed by real assets (including USDT and USDC) may be considered foreign digital rights. Those that rely only on algorithms are closer to the concept of digital currency. This is an important distinction that many companies overlook.
How the asset is classified determines everything: how it can be bought, how it can be transferred, how it should be accounted for, what taxes apply, and what documents need to be collected. A mistake at this stage triggers a chain of mismatches in all the other versions of the transaction.
The Bank of Russia distinguishes between different types of stablecoins. Those backed by real assets (including USDT and USDC) may be considered foreign digital rights. Those that rely only on algorithms are closer to the concept of digital currency. This is an important distinction that many companies overlook.
How the asset is classified determines everything: how it can be bought, how it can be transferred, how it should be accounted for, what taxes apply, and what documents need to be collected. A mistake at this stage triggers a chain of mismatches in all the other versions of the transaction.
USDT Is Not a Dollar
Many companies mistakenly consider USDT a "digital dollar." This is not the case. Even if the issuer promises a peg to the dollar, that does not make the token a US currency. In a contract, you can stipulate "1 USDT = 1 USD," but this is merely an agreement between the parties on the method of calculation, not a legal recognition of the token as currency.
In practice, this means that every USDT payment requires separate agreement on the exchange rate, the source of the quote, and the moment of valuation. Without this, even with a stable token, different departments will use different figures.
In practice, this means that every USDT payment requires separate agreement on the exchange rate, the source of the quote, and the moment of valuation. Without this, even with a stable token, different departments will use different figures.
How Acsour Helps Businesses
- We help determine the legal status of a digital asset.
- We set up an end-to-end process where lawyers, accountants, tax specialists, and finance teams describe the same transaction consistently.
- We draft cryptocurrency clauses covering the network, address, exchange rate, moment of performance, and risk allocation.
- We develop accounting policies and define the recognition, valuation, and disposal of digital assets, as well as the tax implications of transactions.
- We help build a unified evidence chain for foreign exchange control: contracts, payment orders, crypto account statements, and supplier confirmations.
- We conduct counterparty and transaction history checks to minimize the risk of freezes and refusals.
- We support the company from initial consultation to the closing of the foreign trade contract and filing of reports.
Submit a request — our experts will help avoid risks.
