Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, plans to build out crypto trading infrastructure and open digital deposit accounts by December 1, as Russia moves to introduce crypto trading, custody and payments into its regulated financial system.
Interfax said the vault records ownership of customers’ cryptocurrencies and processes most transactions outside of the underlying blockchain. Sberbank operates active wallets for customer-initiated deposits, withdrawals and transfers.
The plan follows the Federal Council’s approval of a law regulating virtual currency trading through licensed brokers, exchanges, asset managers and custodians.
The framework is due to come into force on September 1, but rules requiring transactions to go through licensed intermediaries will apply from July 2027.
Trading on public exchanges will be limited to cryptocurrencies that meet the Bank of Russia’s liquidity standards, including an average market capitalization of at least 5 trillion rubles ($64 billion) over a two-year period and an average daily trading volume of at least 1 trillion rubles ($12.8 billion).
Eligible investors will have access to a wider range of assets. Crypto payments for goods and services within Russia remain prohibited.
Last year, Sberbank began offering Bitcoin-linked structured bonds to accredited investors, and in December completed a Bitcoin-backed loan trial with miner Intelion Data.
