Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, is moving toward offering loans backed by cryptocurrencies and said Friday it was ready to coordinate with the country’s central bank to develop the necessary regulatory framework, according to Reuters.
The lender already tested the model in January. The bank made the country’s first bitcoin-backed loan to one of its largest bitcoin miners, IntelionData, calling the transaction a pilot and suggesting it wants to issue more in the future.
The volume of issuance of digital financial assets on the platform reached 408 billion rubles (approximately $5.3 billion) in 2025, an increase of 5.6 times compared to 2024 (73 billion rubles, or $948 million) and 204 times higher than in 2023 (2 billion rubles or $26 million).
Sberbank’s regulated digital financial assets (DFA) business grew rapidly in 2025, with total issuance reaching 408 billion rubles ($4.9 billion), more than 5.6 times the 2024 level, while the bank’s DFA holdings increased seven-fold in six months to 185 billion rubles ($2.2 billion).
This growth is accompanied by a still dominant traditional balance sheet: as of December, Sber’s corporate loan portfolio stood at 30.4 trillion rubles ($365 billion), its retail loan portfolio at 18.8 trillion rubles ($226 billion), and customer deposits at 33.1 trillion rubles ($398 billion), highlighting the relatively small but rapidly evolving role of token assets within Russia’s largest lender.
When announcing the trial loan, Anatoly Popov, vice president of Sberbank, said that the bank already offers its clients structured bonds and digital financial assets with investments in bitcoin and ether. Popov also said that the bank is currently testing decentralized finance (DeFi) instruments and supports the gradual legalization of cryptocurrencies within the Russian legal framework.
Another major lender, Sovcombank, on February 5 became the first Russian bank to offer cryptocurrency-backed loans to individuals and businesses legally holding bitcoin.
In December 2025, it reopened the cryptocurrency market to the public with new rules set by the country’s central bank. Authorities plan to complete legislation governing crypto assets by July 1, 2026.
Sberbank said the planned lending program would target not only mining companies, but also companies that hold cryptocurrencies on their balance sheets.
