Russia’s largest bank Sberbank plans to build a cryptocurrency trading infrastructure and launch a digital depository by December 1, as Russia moves to integrate cryptocurrency trading, custody and settlement into its regulated financial system.
The custodian, according to Interfax, will record customers’ cryptocurrency ownership and process most transactions outside of the underlying blockchain. Sberbank will operate hot wallets for customer-initiated deposits, withdrawals and transfers.
The plan follows the Federation Council’s approval of a law regulating the trading of cryptocurrencies through licensed brokers, exchanges, asset managers and custodians.
The framework is expected to come into force on September 1, but rules requiring transactions to go through approved intermediaries will apply from July 2027.
Public trading will be limited to cryptocurrencies that meet the Bank of Russia’s liquidity thresholds, including an average market capitalization above 5 trillion rubles ($64 billion) and an average daily volume above 1 trillion rubles ($12.8 billion) over 2 years.
Qualified investors will be able to access a wider range of assets. Crypto payments for goods and services in Russia remain prohibited.
Sberbank began offering bitcoin-linked structured bonds to qualified investors last year and completed a bitcoin-backed loan pilot with mining company Intelion Data in December.
