Sberbank can now run crypto exchange services in Russia. The Bank of Russia put the bank on its register of crypto exchange operators on Oct. 12, according to an Interfax report.
The move gives Sberbank both of the registrations created under Russia’s new crypto framework. On Oct. 6, the central bank had already reportedly listed Sberbank among its first digital depositories, the firms that keep records of cryptocurrency and digital rights holdings. Interfax counted five members on that register, including VTB and Atomyze; the Bank of Russia’s decision pages show a sixth, TT LLC, added on Oct. 12.
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Who Else Is Registered
When the regulator admitted its first participants on Oct. 6, four firms made the exchange register: VTB, T-Invest Lab, Zefir and Sistema-Crypto. T-Invest Lab belongs to T-Technologies, the group behind T-Bank.
That list has grown since. Interfax counted eight organizations on the exchange register besides Sberbank, while the central bank’s own records show at least nine: Professional Bank and RNKO Finpilot joined on Oct. 8, Moy Bitkoin and Khlynov Bank followed on Oct. 9, and Paradise Technology was entered on Oct. 12, the same day as Sberbank.
VTB has reportedly said it expects to open retail crypto trading through its VTB My Investments app in November and to launch its own exchange in December.
How the New Rules Work
Under the new regime, retail investors without qualified status can buy only bitcoin, ether and USDT, capped at 300,000 rubles a year per intermediary, while qualified investors have no ceiling. Firms already on the registers have until Sept. 1, 2027, to meet every requirement, the central bank said when it announced the first admissions.
The new regime began on Sept. 1, when Russia’s digital currency and digital rights law came into force. Alongside the brokers, trustees and exchanges that could already handle crypto deals, it creates two new licensed roles: exchange operators that buy and sell crypto on their own account, and depositories that track who owns what. Applications opened on Oct. 5, and some established financial institutions can be registered by notification within a day.
The Bank of Russia floated the idea in March of letting banks and brokers run crypto exchanges under their existing licenses through a simplified notification process.
Sberbank’s Next Step
Sberbank reportedly aims to roll out its first crypto products on Dec. 1.
“This status will allow the bank to provide services related to organizing the circulation of digital currency on interfaces which clients already use,” Sberbank said, according to Interfax.
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