Russia has created a state‑backed corridor that permits selected exporters and importers to settle foreign‑trade transactions using cryptocurrencies, according to the Bank of Russia. The arrangement operates under a legal framework defined by Federal Law No. 223‑FZ and a supervisory regime called the ELR. Participation is limited to firms approved by the central bank and to transactions that meet the defined parameters of the foreign‑trade agreements. The corridor shifts crypto settlement from an informal workaround to a regulated experiment for a subset of trade flows. Bitcoin can be used without an issuer, while stablecoins such as USDT and USDC provide dollar‑denominated settlement but are subject to issuer‑controlled compliance rules. Settlement requires liquidity providers, exchanges or OTC desks, custody solutions, and conversion steps before the asset becomes usable currency or inventory. U.S. Treasury sanctions guidance applies to all digital‑asset participants, requiring screening for sanctioned entities and blocking of prohibited transactions regardless of the settlement method. Prior enforcement actions, such as the 2022 seizure of assets linked to the Garantex exchange, illustrate how regulators target the broader infrastructure surrounding crypto trade. No public list of approved ELR participants, transaction volumes, or counterparties has been released. Analysts therefore view the corridor as a limited test of how sanctions can be applied to crypto pathways rather than evidence of large‑scale adoption. The practical impact will depend on whether foreign counterparties, offshore liquidity providers, and compliance‑focused service firms accept the route or deem the sanctions exposure too high. Future clarity may emerge from disclosures by the Bank of Russia on participant numbers, transaction types, or from changes in how non‑Russian firms treat the corridor. Until such data appear, the initiative remains a legal construct with uncertain operational reach.