Russia's leading financial institution, Sberbank, is gearing up to roll out a cryptocurrency wallet and digital depository by December, contingent upon the passage of fresh legislation concerning digital assets.
The new offerings will be incorporated into the "Sberbank Online" and "SberInvestments" platforms after the enactment of the "On Digital Currency and Digital Rights" bill, as stated by Kirill Tsarev, the bank's first deputy chairman.
The legislation is anticipated to come into force on September 1, as reported by Vladimir Chistyukhin, First Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia, in a local news article by RBC.
The forthcoming wallet will enable Sberbank customers to manage authorized cryptocurrencies directly through the bank’s applications. Additionally, Sberbank aims to establish a digital depository for the secure storage and management of these tokens.
According to Tsarev, "As regulations emerge, we will prepare a service for our clients. Essentially, it will be a crypto wallet, which we will implement first in Sberbank Online and SberInvestments."
This legislative framework will permit companies to engage in crypto trading, custody, digital-to-fiat exchanges, and cross-border transactions. Non-qualified investors will have the opportunity to trade under certain testing protocols, with annual limits set at approximately 300,000 rubles (around $3,800). Market participants will also have until July 1, 2027, to register officially.
Russia's Complex Relationship with Cryptocurrency
These developments follow a lengthy period of resistance from the Bank of Russia. In January 2022, the central bank advocated for a comprehensive ban on cryptocurrency trading, mining, and usage, citing potential risks to financial stability and monetary policy.
Conversely, Russia’s government has adopted a more lenient stance. The Finance Ministry introduced a regulatory bill despite opposition from the central bank, which maintained a prohibition on crypto payments while allowing for licensed trading.
After the onset of the Ukraine invasion, President Vladimir Putin enacted a law in 2022 that further restricted the use of cryptocurrencies for payments within Russia.
However, cross-border transactions became a noteworthy exception due to sanctions that isolated Russian banks from portions of the global payments system. In 2024, Russia legalized cryptocurrency mining and introduced an experimental cross-border settlement system, granting the central bank the power to authorize select companies for international trade operations.
The Moscow Exchange (MOEX) has also begun exploring the cryptocurrency market, recently launching cash-settled futures contracts tied to various cryptocurrencies.
Additionally, two other major banks, VTB and T-Bank, are reportedly developing digital depositories in line with the new legislation, according to the RBC report.