Sberbank wins Russia’s approval for crypto exchange services

Sberbank has secured the Bank of Russia’s approval to provide cryptocurrency exchange services, joining nine registered operators ahead of its planned Dec. 1 product launch.

The Bank of Russia has added Sberbank to its register of organizations authorized to exchange digital currencies, Interfax reported on Oct. 12, citing the regulator’s website. The report said Russia’s largest lender had already entered the digital depository register earlier this month, giving it separate registrations for exchange services and ownership records.

According to the same report, Sberbank intends to introduce its first products on Dec. 1 and make the services available through interfaces customers already use. The bank described its registration as allowing it to organize cryptocurrency circulation through existing platforms rather than requiring customers to move to a separate service.

Sberbank prepares trading and custody through existing platforms

In its Oct. 7 coverage, crypto.news reported that Russia had registered its first exchanges and custodians, with Sberbank among five digital depositories. The report identified SberBank Online, SberInvestments and SberBusiness as the lender’s planned customer channels, with Bitcoin, Ether and USDT expected among the initial supported assets.

Sberbank’s infrastructure preparations were public before the October registrations. In July 26 coverage of its trading and custody plans, first deputy chairman Alexander Vedyakhin said the bank intended to complete its systems before December.

“Sber plans to implement the necessary infrastructure and launch the digital depository by Dec. 1, 2026,” Vedyakhin said in that report.

According to the July coverage, the planned depository would record customers’ cryptocurrency ownership and account for many transactions outside public blockchain networks. The bank would also manage active wallets used for deposits, withdrawals, and transfers.

Separate lending preparations emerged in August. In comments to TASS on Aug. 28, covered in an Aug. 30 report on crypto-backed lending plans, deputy chairman Anatoly Popov said Sberbank wanted to accept Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether’s USDT as collateral, subject to regulatory permission.

The lending report also documented a Bitcoin-backed loan pilot completed with Russian mining company Intelion Data in December 2025. According to that coverage, the borrower pledged mined cryptocurrency as collateral, while the proposed addition of ETH and USDT remained conditional on the required approvals.

Exchange and depository registrations authorize separate services

Under the Bank of Russia’s Oct. 6 statement, cryptocurrency exchange operators can buy and sell digital currencies in their own name and using their own funds outside organized trading. Digital depositories can record and transfer digital currencies and digital rights, and provide customers with access to the address identifiers where assets are recorded.

The regulator said registered organizations must comply with transaction execution and recordkeeping rules from the date they enter the registers. For institutions admitted under the law’s transitional provisions, the remaining deadline to bring their activities into compliance is Sept. 1, 2027.

Interfax’s Oct. 12 report put the exchange register at nine organizations, including VTB and T-Invest Lab. The latter belongs to T-Technologies, the group that also includes T-Bank. According to the report, the digital depository register contains five organizations, including VTB and Atomyze.

In its Sept. 24 admission notice, the central bank set out qualification requirements for management and certain officers, documents applicants must submit, and procedures for registration decisions. The regulator said the rules had been registered with Russia’s Ministry of Justice and would take effect on Oct. 5.

For existing financial-market participants, the notice provides a simplified admission route when applying to become a cryptocurrency exchange or digital depository. Interfax reported that eligible organizations can obtain registration through a notification-based process within one day.

Russia’s investor rules retain purchase limits and payment restrictions

As reported on Sept. 1, Russia’s regulated crypto trading framework took effect that day, covering trading, custody and cross-border settlements under central bank supervision. According to the Bank of Russia’s rules described in that coverage, access depends on investor status and mandatory testing.

Non-qualified investors can purchase up to 300,000 rubles of eligible cryptocurrencies annually through each intermediary, the report said. Qualified investors must also complete testing but can trade without the same annual purchase ceiling.

For domestic commerce, the framework retains the prohibition on cryptocurrency payments for ordinary goods and services, according to the Sept. 1 report. Exporters and importers receive different treatment: the Bank of Russia permits cryptocurrency use for cross-border settlements without an amount limit under the applicable framework.

Other institutions have announced their own launch schedules. Moscow Exchange senior managing director Boris Blokhin told reporters on Oct. 8 that the venue planned to enable cryptocurrency transactions from Dec. 1 and was testing operations with professional participants, Interfax reported.

According to Blokhin, Moscow Exchange will use a partner settlement digital depository where market participants will open accounts. He also said the venue would not need additional permits or licenses to launch the trading service.

U.S. sanctions obligations apply to cryptocurrency transactions

For American investors and service providers, Treasury’s sanctions rules govern dealings involving blocked Russian institutions. In April 2022, the department announced full blocking sanctions against Sberbank under Executive Order 14024.

Treasury said the action blocked designated parties’ property and interests in property within the United States or under U.S. persons’ control. Its notice prohibited transactions involving blocked property by U.S. persons or within the United States unless authorized by an OFAC license or exempt.

In its virtual-currency guidance, OFAC states that sanctions obligations apply equally to digital currency and traditional fiat transactions. The agency says U.S. persons and others subject to its jurisdiction must avoid unauthorized dealings with blocked persons or property, including when processing cryptocurrency payments.

OFAC’s Russia-specific guidance also says U.S. virtual-currency exchanges, wallet hosts and other service providers are generally prohibited from facilitating cryptocurrency transactions in which blocked persons have an interest. The agency states that non-U.S. persons may also violate its rules by causing U.S. persons to breach sanctions or engaging in conduct that evades those prohibitions.