๐ท๐บ Russia
What Russian residents can use, and the domestic payment ban plus sanctions issues that apply.
Russia allows holding crypto but bans it as a means of payment domestically, and sanctions make issuer onboarding the real obstacle.
Sanctions breaches are enforced against the user as well as the provider. Comply with local and international law.
This page is information, not legal or tax advice. Always comply with the laws that apply where you live.
In force since January 2021, it recognises digital currency as property but prohibits its use as a means of payment for goods and services inside Russia.
Crypto income is taxable, and 2024 amendments introduced clearer treatment of mining and digital currency transactions for tax purposes.
EU, UK and US sanctions restrict providing crypto wallet and payment services to Russian residents. Most compliant issuers block Russian residency outright.
The charcoal cards below skip full identity checks, so they are usable from Russia regardless of local issuer support. That convenience shifts the compliance and account freeze risk onto you, and it does not make prohibited activity lawful.
#1
Privacy-focused users
A privacy-first aggregator offering eight card options, including no-KYC issuance.
#2
No KYC Fnatics
No KYC comes with a cost.
I'm Tristyn Pawson, founder of ConsistenC.xyz. Over the last five years I've worked on marketing, development and growth across five crypto cards and neobanks, building at least three of them from scratch.
Alongside that I've run in-depth research on 20+ crypto banks to understand what actually makes someone keep a card in their wallet. These rankings reflect that: which problems are tolerable, and which ones are genuine deal breakers.