Since September 1, 2026, a creditor can look for a debtor’s cryptocurrency through the bailiff and, in one case, take the writ of execution straight to a digital depositary.
We looked at which route fits your document, what to ask the bailiff for, which deadlines to keep and what to do if the cryptocurrency is not found.
We described what the law changed in the article Can Bailiffs Take Your Cryptocurrency?
Here we cover only the steps for a creditor.
The main points:
- if the court awarded the cryptocurrency itself, the writ of execution can be taken to the bailiff or straight to a depositary (Art. 8.2(1) of Law No. 229-FZ);
- if the court awarded money, the writ of execution, as we read the law, goes to the bailiff;
- the bailiff may request information about the debtor’s cryptocurrency from a depositary, and the law says nothing about a creditor’s right to make such a request (Art. 69(8.1));
- the bailiff considers an application within 10 days, and if it does not ask for specific actions, treats it as an ordinary inquiry (Art. 64.1);
- if the bailiff is silent or refuses, this can be appealed to a superior official or in court, and a claim in a court of general jurisdiction is filed within 10 working days (Art. 121 of Law No. 229-FZ, Art. 219(3) of the Code of Administrative Procedure);
- if the cryptocurrency is not found, the document may be returned, and the period for presenting it starts again (Art. 46(1), Art. 22(3)).
The provisions are given as of November 8, 2026. We found no practice applying the new rules.
Which Writ of Execution Do You Have, and Where Do You Take It?
Everything depends on what exactly the court awarded. The rules are in Law No. 229-FZ “On Enforcement Proceedings”.
Two options:
- The court awarded the cryptocurrency itself. Such a document orders digital currencies to be written off the debtor’s account and credited to yours. You can take it to the bailiff or straight to a digital depositary, if you know which digital currencies are on the debtor’s account (Art. 8.2(1));
- The court awarded money. Art. 8.2 speaks only of writing off digital currencies, while Art. 8 names banks and other credit organizations for monetary claims (Art. 8(1)). So such a writ of execution, as we read the law, goes to the bailiff.
A digital depositary is like a bank: a bank records clients’ money, and a depositary records their cryptocurrency.
You need a digital account. The cryptocurrency is credited to the creditor’s digital account (Art. 8.2(1)), and you become its holder from the moment it is credited to your own holder’s digital account (Art. 22(7) of Law No. 282-FZ). If you have no such account, open one with a depositary in advance. We found no duty of a depositary to open an account for a creditor in Law No. 282-FZ: if it refuses, the route through the bailiff and the sale remains. The Bank of Russia may set the requirements for opening one (Art. 22(5) of Law No. 282-FZ).
What to attach for the depositary. An application with details of the creditor. For an individual these are the name, citizenship, passport details, place of residence and taxpayer identification number (TIN), if any. For an organization they are the name, TIN, registration number and address (Art. 8.2(2), Art. 8(2)). A representative adds a document confirming their authority.
What the depositary does, as we read the law, in order:
- within three working days it writes the cryptocurrency off the debtor’s account and credits it to you, and if there is not enough, it notes full or partial non-performance (Art. 73.7(2));
- after that it keeps executing the document as cryptocurrency arrives on the debtor’s account until it is fully executed, and it reports the write-offs to you (Art. 73.7(5));
- it finishes execution when the document is fully executed, on your application or on the bailiff’s ruling (Art. 73.7(6), Art. 70(10));
- if it has reasonable doubts about the document’s authenticity, it may delay execution for up to seven working days, and the law does not say whether the cryptocurrency is frozen meanwhile (Art. 73.7(4));
- if the debtor moved the cryptocurrency to another depositary, the unexecuted document is passed on there, and the law does not describe how (Art. 8.2(4)).
A depositary may decline to execute a document if it suspects the operation serves money laundering or terrorist financing. This rule does not apply if the document is itself a court act or was issued on the basis of one (Art. 73.7(8)).
If you fear the debtor will move the cryptocurrency out, ask the bailiff for an arrest. From the moment it receives a copy of the ruling, the depositary does not follow the debtor’s instructions and suspends operations with the debtor’s cryptocurrency within the amount of the debt (Art. 82.1(11)).
How Can You Find a Debtor’s Cryptocurrency?
The law lets the bailiff request information from a depositary. Under Art. 69(8) the creditor may request information on their own from the tax authority, but that is information on bank accounts and valuables held by banks (Art. 69(8) and (9)), and depositaries are not mentioned.
What a creditor has:
- A request through the bailiff. The bailiff may request from a digital depositary information about the debtor’s digital currencies and operations with them (Art. 69(8.1));
- The register of depositaries. The Bank of Russia keeps a register of digital depositaries, which listed nine organizations on November 6, 2026, among them Sberbank and VTB Bank. If you do not know where the debtor has an account, we advise asking the bailiff to send requests to the depositaries in the register;
- Asset search. If the debt exceeds 10,000 rubles and the bailiff’s other actions did not help find property, the creditor may apply for a search (Art. 65(5)(3) and Art. 65(1)). The bailiff decides on the search or the refusal within three days (Art. 65(6));
- Information you already have. The law does not say where a creditor gets the details of the debtor’s account. They can be, for example, payment records, correspondence or a court decision naming the platform. Give them to the bailiff, and the request will be targeted.
What Should You Ask the Bailiff For?
An application can be filed at any stage of the enforcement proceeding (Art. 64.1(1)). If it contains no request for specific actions, it is treated as an ordinary citizen’s inquiry (Art. 64.1(5.1)), so it is better to name the actions.
What to include in the application:
- Request from digital depositaries information about the debtor’s digital currencies and operations with them (Art. 69(8.1)).
- Arrest the cryptocurrency found: on the creditor’s application the bailiff decides on the arrest (Art. 80(2)), issues a ruling, and a copy is sent to you no later than the next day (Art. 82.1(2) and (10)).
- Declare an asset search if the debt exceeds 10,000 rubles (Art. 65(5)(3)).
- Allow you to review the case file and make copies of the depositaries’ replies (Art. 50(1)).
The bailiff considers the application within ten days and issues a ruling granting or refusing it. A copy is sent to you no later than the next day (Art. 64.1(5) and (7)).
A small debt. If the proceeding collects no more than 3,000 rubles, arrest of property other than money is not allowed (Art. 80(1.1)). There is no practice on whether this covers cryptocurrency; as we read it, it does.
If the bailiff did not answer or refused. A ruling and the bailiff’s inaction can be appealed up the chain of command or challenged in court (Art. 121(1)). A claim goes to a court of general jurisdiction within 10 working days of the day you learned of the violation (Art. 219(3) and Art. 92(2) of the Code of Administrative Procedure). If an arbitration court issued the document, the bailiff is usually challenged in the arbitration court under the Arbitration Procedure Code (Art. 329), with a three-month period (Art. 198(4)).
What Happens After the Arrest?
Steps:
- A copy of the arrest ruling is sent to you, the debtor and the depositary no later than the next day (Art. 82.1(10)).
- A broker sells the cryptocurrency on an exchange. Sale orders may be placed repeatedly within two months, and the price may not be lower than the weighted average price for the last hour of the previous trading day (Art. 89(5) and (6)).
- If the cryptocurrency is not sold in two months, the bailiff offers you to keep it at the weighted average price for the last hour of the last day on which the broker offered it for sale (Art. 89(7)).
If you refuse, the writ of execution may be returned (Art. 46(1)(5)). We wrote about the risk of selling at that price in a falling market in the article on the arrest.
If the Cryptocurrency Is Not Found, What Next?
If the bailiff could not locate property or all measures to find it came to nothing, the bailiff may end the proceeding and return the document to you (Art. 46(1)(3) and (4)).
How not to lose the document:
- as a general rule, a writ of execution issued on a court act can be presented within three years of the act entering into force (Art. 21(1));
- after the return, the period starts anew and in full, not for the remainder: three years are counted from the day the bailiff sent the ruling ending the proceeding, and the earlier time does not count (Art. 22(2) and (3));
- if the proceeding was ended on your own application, the time the document spent with the bailiff is deducted from the period (Art. 22(3.1));
- if the debtor later gets an account with a depositary, the writ can be presented again within that period.
What Does the Law Leave Unregulated, and Which Questions Have No Answer?
The rules have been in force for two months, and some cases are not described in them:
- Can a creditor request information from a depositary on their own? Art. 69(8.1) speaks of the bailiff’s request, while under Art. 69(8) the creditor may request information from the tax authority. The law says nothing about a creditor’s request to a depositary;
- Can a search be declared for cryptocurrency? Art. 65 does not name cryptocurrency, but digital currency is property under the law. There is no practice, and as we read it, a search can be requested;
- How long does a creditor have to answer the offer to keep the cryptocurrency, and must the difference be paid? For ordinary property it is five days, and the difference must be paid if the price exceeds the debt (Art. 87(12)). Art. 89 says nothing about this;
- Can cryptocurrency be arrested before the court decides? Art. 140 of the Civil Procedure Code and Art. 91 of the Arbitration Procedure Code allow arresting the defendant’s property and do not name digital currencies. The law does not describe how a depositary would execute such a court order: we found no amendments to the procedural codes in Law No. 283-FZ;
- Is the cryptocurrency frozen while the depositary checks a document you brought yourself? Art. 73.7(4) allows delaying execution for up to seven working days and says nothing about a ban on disposing of the cryptocurrency. An arrest is imposed by the bailiff’s ruling (Art. 82.1(2) and (3)), and when you apply without the bailiff there is none;
- How does the former depositary learn about the new one, and what does it pass on? Art. 8.2(4) speaks of a transfer from one depositary to another, and as we read the law both take part in it, but the law does not describe how the document is passed on. A transfer to a wallet outside the depositaries is not covered by this provision.
Is There Any Court Practice?
We found no practice applying the new rules. We found no position of the Supreme Court or explanation from the Federal Bailiff Service (FSSP) in open sources as of November 8, 2026.
The head of the FSSP told the TASS agency, according to media reports of November 1, 2026, about 13 proceedings to confiscate cryptocurrency under the new procedure. That is a transfer to the state, not collection of a debt for a creditor.
How Can We Help?
We work in four steps:
- You write to us in a messenger or leave a request on the site and briefly describe what happened.
- We ask clarifying questions and request documents: the writ of execution, the ruling opening the proceeding, the bailiff’s replies.
- After studying the documents we name the price, and we start work after payment.
- You receive a written opinion signed by a lawyer. It sets out the legal position, an assessment of prospects and risks, the steps to take and a calculation of costs.
Next we can prepare a complaint and documents for court, and represent you in court. We name the terms and the price in advance. The consultation is written, so you do not need to come in: we work with clients from different regions.
We cannot promise a 100% result: the bailiff or the court makes the decision, and we speak plainly about the prospects of the case.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I find out whether a debtor has cryptocurrency? The bailiff may request information from a depositary (Art. 69(8.1) of Law No. 229-FZ), and the law says nothing about a creditor’s right to make such a request. File an application with the bailiff, ask them to send requests to the depositaries and give everything you know about the debtor’s accounts.
Can I take the document straight to a depositary? Yes, if the court awarded the cryptocurrency itself and you know which digital currencies are on the debtor’s account (Art. 8.2(1)). When the court awarded money, the writ of execution, as we read the law, goes to the bailiff.
What if the bailiff does not answer my application? The application is considered within ten days (Art. 64.1(5)). If there is no answer, file a complaint up the chain of command or a claim in court (Art. 121(1)). A claim goes to court within 10 working days of the day you learned of the violation (Art. 219(3) of the Code of Administrative Procedure).
Read Also
- Can Bailiffs Take Your Cryptocurrency? What Changed on September 1, 2026: arrest, sale and the debtor’s protection;
- Someone Else’s Debts at the Bailiffs: What to Do If They Are Recorded Against You or Your Child: the order of action and how to contest someone else’s debts;
- Can You Recover Moral Damages and Losses From Bailiffs?: when a bailiff’s mistake costs the state money;
- How to Cancel a Notary’s Executive Inscription in Russia: if collection goes ahead without a court;
- What Is a Digital Depositary, and Who Is in the Bank of Russia Register?: who holds cryptocurrency and how to check an organization.
Were you awarded cryptocurrency, or do you want to find a debtor’s cryptocurrency and collect it? Write to us on Telegram, WhatsApp or KakaoTalk at +7 (902) 899-07-58 or leave a request on the site. We will study the documents and name the price of the work.