Russia’s largest bank Sberbank secures approval to trade crypto

Sberbank’s new registration allows it to provide cryptocurrency exchange services within Russia’s regulated financial system. In practical terms, the bank can buy and sell permitted digital coins for clients, subject to rules set by the Bank of Russia. This is a major shift from the central bank’s earlier opposition to domestic crypto exchanges.

Sberbank plans to offer its first products through customer interfaces on Dec. 1. It is already testing trades in Bitcoin, Ether, Tether’s USDT and other major tokens in its app. However, the Bank of Russia will decide the final list of permitted coins.

The approval does not make cryptocurrencies ordinary money in Russia. Domestic crypto payments remain prohibited. From July 2027, transactions must use registered intermediaries, giving the regulated system greater control and making peer-to-peer transactions through Russian bank accounts effectively unavailable.

Russia’s cryptocurrency exchange register now contains nine organizations. It is maintained by the Bank of Russia and identifies providers allowed to participate in the country’s regulated crypto market. Sberbank’s addition expands the role of traditional financial institutions in crypto trading.

The article specifically names VTB and T-Invest Lab as other organizations on the register. Sberbank had also joined the digital depository register earlier in the month. That separate registration concerns recording clients’ crypto holdings and transfers.

The growing register shows that Russia is building a controlled structure for crypto services rather than leaving all activity outside the financial system. The framework includes banks, brokers, exchanges and digital depositories. Even with nine registered organizations, crypto payments remain banned, and future transactions will have to pass through registered intermediaries.

Sberbank plans to offer customers cryptocurrency trading through interfaces they already use. Its broader preparation also includes custody-related services, supported by its entry into the digital depository register and work on a crypto wallet. Together, these steps could let the bank help clients trade coins and track their holdings.

The bank is already testing Bitcoin, Ether and USDT trades in its app, along with other major tokens. Bitcoin is commonly abbreviated BTC, Ether as ETH, and Tether as USDT. Sberbank told Vedomosti that the Bank of Russia will determine the final list of coins permitted for trading.

The first products are planned for Dec. 1. The service will operate inside Russia’s regulated market, not as unrestricted crypto activity. Domestic crypto payments remain prohibited, and from July 2027 crypto transactions must go through registered intermediaries.

A registered crypto dealer is an organization authorized to buy and sell cryptocurrencies using its own funds. The article says this activity takes place outside organized exchanges. Its central function is dealing: providing a route for cryptocurrency trades within the regulated market.

A digital depository performs a different job. It records clients’ crypto holdings, ownership and transfers. It is closer to a regulated recordkeeping service than a trading desk. Sberbank joined this depository register earlier than it joined the exchange register.

These registrations can work together. Sberbank’s exchange status supports trading services, while its depository status supports custody-related services and records. The combination creates a route for customers to trade and have their crypto holdings recorded. It does not lift Russia’s ban on domestic crypto payments or remove future intermediary requirements.

The new requirement will move Russian crypto users toward approved channels. Instead of completing transactions directly with one another through informal arrangements, users will need registered intermediaries to handle the transaction. The change gives the Bank of Russia and registered market participants more control over how crypto is traded and transferred.

The article identifies the clearest consequence for peer-to-peer activity. Transactions settled through Russian bank accounts would effectively be shut out once the rule takes effect in July 2027. Users would therefore need to use providers included in the regulated system, such as eligible dealers or other registered intermediaries.

This requirement comes alongside an existing ban on domestic crypto payments. It does not ban crypto trading altogether. Instead, it channels trading through supervised participants, including banks, brokers, exchanges and digital depositories, while narrowing the space for direct user-to-user transactions.

In 2022, the Bank of Russia proposed banning domestic cryptocurrency exchanges and preventing Russian financial intermediaries from handling cryptocurrencies. That approach would have kept crypto trading outside the country’s formal financial structure. Russia instead adopted a regulated market through a law that took effect Sept. 1.

The new system includes banks, brokers, exchanges and digital depositories. Sberbank’s registrations illustrate how it works: the bank can provide exchange services and record clients’ crypto holdings. Registered dealers can buy and sell crypto with their own funds, while depositories record ownership and transfers.

The change is not full liberalization. Domestic crypto payments remain prohibited. From July 2027, crypto transactions must pass through registered intermediaries, which would effectively block peer-to-peer transactions settled through Russian bank accounts. Russia has therefore shifted from proposed exclusion to controlled participation.

Cryptocurrencies are digital assets recorded and transferred on a blockchain, a shared digital record maintained by a network. They are not automatically ordinary money issued or accepted by a government. Trading means exchanging one cryptocurrency for another or for money through a platform or dealer. The article focuses on regulated trading rather than payment use.

Custody means safeguarding the digital credentials that control access to crypto. A digital depository provides a regulated record of clients’ holdings and transfers. Blockchain records support the underlying ownership history, while a custodian or depository helps organize and protect access to assets. The article says Sberbank is developing a crypto wallet and has joined the depository register.

Sberbank is testing BTC, ETH and USDT trades in its app. Russia still bans domestic crypto payments. From July 2027, transactions must use registered intermediaries, adding formal oversight around trading and ownership records.