Russians ask government hotlines whether pensions are paid in crypto

Crypto-related questions about pension payments are reaching Russia’s Social Fund hotline, suggesting digital assets are entering mainstream financial concerns.

Inquiries about whether pensions can be paid in crypto have become one of the most frequent non-standard requests received by the Social Fund of Russia, a state-run institution responsible for managing Russia’s public pension system.

In 2025, the Social Fund’s call center handled roughly 37 million calls, the vast majority related to routine matters such as pensions, benefits and maternity capital. However, operators also increasingly fielded questions about digital assets, according to a Saturday report from Rossiyskaya Gazeta (Russian Gazette), the official daily newspaper of the Russian government.

Among the most common crypto-related inquiries were whether Russian citizens could receive pension payments in cryptocurrency and whether income from crypto mining would be factored into the calculation of social benefits. The fund said these questions appeared often enough to stand out from the overall call volume.

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