Inquiries about whether pensions may be paid in crypto have develop into some of the common special requests received by the Social Fund of Russia, a state body liable for managing Russia's public pension system.
In 2025, the Social Fund call center handled around 37 million calls, the overwhelming majority related to routine matters similar to pension, advantages and maternity capital. However, operators were also increasingly asking questions on digital assets, in line with a Saturday report in Rossiyskaya Gazeta (Russian Newspaper), the official day by day newspaper of the Russian government.
Among essentially the most common crypto-related inquiries was whether Russian residents could receive pension payments in cryptocurrency and whether income from crypto mining can be taken into consideration when calculating social advantages. The fund said these questions got here up often enough to face out in the general volume of calls.
In response, the operators said that every one pensions and social payments can be issued in rubles and digital assets wouldn’t fall under the purview of the Social Fund. They added that matters related to income and taxation of cryptocurrencies are regulated by the Federal Tax Service of Russia and never by the pension authorities.
Russia overtakes UK and Germany in cryptocurrency adoption
As Cointelegraph reported, Russia has develop into Europe's largest crypto market, surpassing countries just like the United Kingdom and Germany, in line with an October report from Chainalysis. The study found that Russia received $376.3 billion price of cryptocurrencies between July 2024 and June 2025, giving it a transparent lead over the UK, which recorded $273.2 billion in the identical period.
The report attributed Russia's rise to a pointy increase in institutional activity and wider use of decentralized finance. Large crypto transfers over $10 million rose 86% year-on-year, almost twice as fast as the remaining of Europe. Overall, crypto inflows to Russia increased by 48% year-on-year, widening the gap with other major European economies.
Retail usage and DeFi adoption also played a key role. Russia saw stronger growth than the remaining of Europe in each large and small retail segments, while DeFi activity increased eightfold in early 2025.
Russia proposes access to cryptocurrencies for personal investors
Last month, the Bank of Russia proposed a policy change that may allow unqualified investors to buy certain cryptocurrencies under strict conditions.
Retail investors would give you the chance to buy a limited variety of liquid crypto assets after passing a knowledge test, with annual investment capped at 300,000 rubles ($3,834). Qualified investors can be given broader access to the crypto market, aside from privacy coins, and would even be required to finish a knowledge assessment.
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