Stablecoin cross-border payments become a legal gray area as FATF will release a special assessment report.

[Coin World] Despite countries like China, Indonesia, and Russia prohibiting retail crypto payments, legal experts point out that residents still operate in a legal gray area when using crypto to pay for overseas services. After Georgia's travel company Tripzy opened a USDT payment channel via CityPay in June 2025, tourists from Russia and Turkey can book services across borders using stablecoins, as neither country's laws explicitly prohibit such actions. A partner at Turkey's Paldimoglu law firm stated that their 'Regulation on Prohibiting Payments with Crypto Assets' only restricts licensed domestic institutions; the founder of Russia's D&A CryptoMap also confirmed that the country's laws do not restrict overseas crypto payments. However, overlapping laws raise regulatory risks, with experts warning that such transactions may be viewed by Europe and the U.S. as 'loopholes for evading sanctions.' The latest report from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) shows that as of 2024, illegal transactions involving stablecoins account for 50%, including North Korean hackers and terrorism financing. The agency announced it will release a special AML assessment report on stablecoins in Q1 2026.