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Sberbank has been added to the Bank of Russia’s register of organizations authorized to exchange digital currencies, clearing the country’s largest lender to buy and sell crypto in its own name and with its own money, Decrypt reported. The decision was posted on the regulator’s website and reported by Interfax, and it arrived six days after the central bank placed Sberbank on its separate register of digital depositories.
The dual status means Sberbank can sit on the other side of a client’s trade and also keep the official record of who owns the coins, without sending customers to an outside venue. Crypto.news reported that nine organizations now appear in Russia’s crypto exchange register, including VTB and T-Invest Lab, while the depository register holds five, including VTB and Atomyze.
Also read: Sberbank Cleared for Crypto Trading Ahead of Dec 1 Launch
Key facts
- The Bank of Russia added Sberbank to the crypto exchange register on October 12, six days after its digital depository listing, per Decrypt and Interfax.
- Sberbank plans to launch its first crypto products on December 1 through SberBank Online, SberInvestments and SberBusiness, starting with Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT.
- Retail buyers face a 300,000 ruble annual cap per intermediary and a mandatory knowledge test, and paying for goods with crypto remains illegal in Russia.
- Sberbank ended the second quarter with 110.6 million retail clients and 3.5 million corporate clients, per its quarterly results.
- Registered firms that entered under the law’s transitional provisions have until September 1, 2027, to bring operations fully into compliance.
Both desks, one client base
Holding exchange and depository status together sets Sberbank apart from venues that only match trades or only keep records. The bank said the depository registration lets it offer crypto services in interfaces clients already use, turning a regulated on-ramp into one more menu item in apps those customers already open for everyday banking.
Deputy Chairman Anatoly Popov has forecast that crypto trading volumes in Russia could reach 4 trillion rubles, roughly $46 billion, in the regime’s first year and 7.5 trillion rubles by 2029, or nearly $89.7 billion. He also said the bank wants to accept Ethereum and USDT, alongside Bitcoin, as loan collateral once the central bank allows them into public circulation. Crypto.news traced the collateral plan to August remarks reported by TASS on August 28, and noted an earlier Bitcoin-backed loan pilot completed with Russian mining company Intelion Data in December 2025.
Also read: Russia Pays Finance Ministry Staff in Digital Rubles
Cointribune reported that Sberbank is already testing Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT and other major tokens inside its app, though the Bank of Russia has yet to define the final list of authorized cryptocurrencies. That detail matters because the draft list of tradable coins currently includes only Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT.
The launch date carries a hedge. Sberbank has said December 1 depends on the central bank’s decisions and on secondary regulations being ready in time. Both approvals have now arrived, which leaves the secondary rulebook as the main variable. First deputy chairman Alexander Vedyakhin said in July coverage that the bank intended to complete its infrastructure and launch the digital depository by December 1, 2026.
Why it matters
The approval reverses the direction the Bank of Russia set in January 2022, when it proposed banning crypto use, mining and exchanges outright over financial-stability concerns. Less than five years later, the same regulator is licensing the country’s biggest lender to run a crypto desk. For retail clients, access comes with guardrails: annual purchase limits, testing, and a continuing ban on paying for ordinary goods with crypto. For qualified investors, testing still applies but the annual purchase ceiling does not.
The cross-border carve-out is the other shift. The framework bars domestic crypto payments while permitting exporters and importers to use crypto for cross-border settlements without an amount limit, a distinction that matters more to Sberbank’s corporate book than to its retail app.
What to watch
The secondary regulations must land before December 1 for the product launch to hold, and the Bank of Russia’s final list of authorized coins will determine which assets reach users. Moscow Exchange senior managing director Boris Blokhin said on October 8 that the venue planned to enable cryptocurrency transactions from December 1 using a partner settlement digital depository. Firms already on the registers have until September 1, 2027, to reach full compliance.
One external footnote for readers outside Russia: U.S. Treasury imposed full blocking sanctions on Sberbank in April 2022 under Executive Order 14024, and OFAC guidance states that sanctions obligations apply equally to digital currency and traditional fiat transactions. That context is not financial advice, and crypto markets remain volatile and uncertain.
Reported by decrypt.co.
Sources: Decrypt, Crypto.news, Cointribune