Russia’s largest bank Sberbank plans crypto trading infrastructure by December

Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, is planning to establish cryptocurrency trading infrastructure and launch a digital depository by December 1, 2026. This initiative is part of Russia’s effort to integrate crypto trading, custody, and settlement into its regulated financial system. The new digital depository will maintain records of client cryptocurrency ownership and handle most transactions off the blockchain. Sberbank intends to run active wallets to facilitate client transactions such as deposits, withdrawals, and transfers.

This move comes after the Federation Council approved legislation to regulate cryptocurrency trading through licensed brokers, exchanges, asset managers, and depositories. The regulatory framework is scheduled to take effect on September 1, 2026, with stricter rules requiring transactions to be processed by licensed intermediaries becoming mandatory from July 2027. Public exchange trading will be restricted to cryptocurrencies meeting liquidity and market capitalization thresholds set by the Bank of Russia, which include an average market cap above 5 trillion rubles (approximately $64 billion) and an average daily trading volume above 1 trillion rubles (around $12.8 billion) over two years. Qualified investors will have access to a larger variety of crypto assets. Payments for goods and services using cryptocurrencies remain prohibited within Russia.

Sberbank has already engaged with the crypto market by offering structured bonds linked to bitcoin for qualified investors and completing a bitcoin-backed lending pilot with miner Intelion Data in December 2025. This development aligns with Russia’s gradual approach to regulating cryptocurrency, which began with the 2024 law that legalized mining and introduced a pilot regime for crypto-based cross-border settlements. The Bank of Russia further eased access to crypto-linked financial products in 2025 and proposed limited direct crypto purchases for retail investors, subject to testing and a cap of 300,000 rubles annually per intermediary.