The popularity of stablescoins for cryptocurrency payments has increased in recent years, many global companies adopting new payment methods.
Despite the trend, cryptographic payments remain prohibited for retail users in several countries, including China, Indonesia, Russia, Turkey and others.
However, while payments of national cryptography can be prohibited in these jurisdictions, the use of cryptocurrency to pay the services abroad can be legally authorized, according to certain legal experts and observers of cryptographic regulations.
“As a general rule, the laws of a country apply only to events that occur in this country or to its own citizens,” said Meric Paldimoglu, lawyer in Turkey and managing partner of the Paldimoglu law firm.
Can Russian and Turkish residents pay in crypto for foreign services?
At the beginning of June 2025, the Georgian travel company Tripzy began to accept payments in the Stablecoin USDT (USDT) of Tether via the Citypay infrastructure, allowing international customers to reserve services using Stablecoin.
“We started to accept cryptocurrency to offer our customers more freedom and convenience in payment,” said a tripzy spokesperson in Cointelegraph. “This is particularly relevant for guests from countries with currency restrictions or simply for those who appreciate the speed of transactions,” added the spokesperson.
Given that Georgia is based strongly on country tourism such as Russia and Turkey – where crypto payments are limited to residents – the new functionality raises questions on the legality of cross -border payments for travelers in these jurisdictions.
However, there are no laws explicitly prohibiting the use of cryptocurrency for payments made abroad.
“Russian federal law n ° 259 on digital financial assets has never prohibited the use of cryptocurrency for payments made outside of Russia,” the founder of D & A Cryptomap told Cointelegraph. He said Russian laws currently prohibit residents from accepting the crypto specifically for contractual purposes.
Paldimoglu shared a similar perspective while approaching the problem in relation to Turkish laws.
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“When a Turkish citizen shops from a company based abroad, Turkish law does not apply,” said the lawyer. He said that the regulation on the disuse of cryptographic assets in payment applies specifically to authorized payment institutions and electronic funds operating in Türkiye.
“It is therefore legal for Turkish citizens to buy foreign websites, and I do not think that would cause problems between Georgia and Turkey,” he added.
Regulatory overlaps increase the flags for the global authorities
Although not creating new explicit conflicts between jurisdictions that allow cryptographic payments and those who do not, such regulatory horses are more likely to attract the attention of global authorities, according to Brisov.
“If Georgian companies, like Tripzy, are starting to accept the crypto of Russian tourists, this can be seen in Brussels as a escape,” he said, adding:
“If Tripzy only sold tours for Georgia or other countries that did not impose or support the Russian sanctions, it would be perfectly in conformity. However, if Georgia becomes a gateway to the world for Russian money, it will face international pressures and will have to choose sides. ”
In relation: Bis says that stablecoins fail in money, calls for strict limits on their role
A single travel agency cannot trigger any sanction from the European authorities, however suggested Brisov. However, if the models are emerging, the answer could degenerate-not from Russia but from the global system that applies conformity, he speculated.
Fatf warns against the growth in the use of illegal stablecoin
BRISOV’s remarks align with recent warnings of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on the growing role of stablecoins in the facilitation of illicit transactions.
“Since 2024, the use of stablescoins by illicit actors, including the actors of the RPRC (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) and terrorist financiers, has increased, most of the illegal activities of onchain now involving stabble (AML) measures in the crypto.
The agency also provided a detailed report on various LMA measures taken by FATF member countries and other jurisdictions and has committed to providing a targeted report on the stablecoins in the first quarter of 2026.
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