Sberbank wins Bank of Russia approval to trade crypto
Russia's largest bank has joined the central bank's register of crypto exchange providers and plans to open trading to all clients on 1 December.
Key points
- Sberbank joined the Bank of Russia's crypto exchange register, according to Interfax, after entering the digital depository register earlier this month.
- The bank is testing BTC, ETH and USDT trades in its app, with the central bank to set the final list of permitted coins.
Sberbank has secured approval to trade crypto, becoming the latest institution added to the Bank of Russia's register of cryptocurrency exchange providers, Interfax reported.
Together they give Sberbank a route into both trading and custody-related services, after it began work on a crypto wallet earlier this year.
A law that took effect on 1 September instead created a regulated market of banks, brokers, exchanges and digital depositories. Controls remain tight: domestic crypto payments are still prohibited, and from July 2027 transactions must go through registered intermediaries, which would effectively shut out peer-to-peer transfers settled via Russian bank accounts.
What to watch: Sberbank plans to launch its first crypto products on 1 December, and from July 2027 transactions must go through registered intermediaries.
Live updates on NewsFeeds:MacroDesk editor: Keshav Aggarwal (accountable for this page; this summary was not edited by hand)
How this was produced: an AI model wrote this summary of CoinDesk’s report, which we credit and link above. Read our Editorial and AI policy. Spotted a mistake? See Corrections.
Not investment advice. Read the risk disclaimer.