Sberbank Moves Closer to Crypto Trading Launch After Bank of Russia Approval

Sberbank joined the Bank of Russia’s register of crypto exchange organizations on Monday, bringing the list to ten firms.

According to Interfax, the listing lets Russia’s largest bank buy and sell digital currencies on its own account, outside organized trading, under the central bank’s definition of the role. Sberbank already sat on the regulator’s separate register of digital depositories. It and VTB are the only firms on both lists.

A digital depository keeps the record of clients’ crypto and handles transfers between them. It also gives clients access to the addresses where those assets are held.

Exchange Register Reaches 10 Firms

Banks and other firms could apply for both registers from October 5. A day later, the Bank of Russia added four crypto exchange organizations and five depositories to those registers. VTB, T-Invest Lab, Zefir and Sistema-Crypto made up that first exchange list. T-Invest Lab belongs to T-Technologies, the group that also owns T-Bank.

Non-bank credit organization FinPilot and Professional Bank joined the exchange list next, on October 8. Moi Bitcoin and Kirov-based lender Khlynov followed on October 9. The latest additions to that list, Sberbank and Ryazan-registered Paradise Technology, joined on Monday. The depository list grew the same day, to six, when a firm named TT joined.

The central bank said those first nine entries were admitted under transitional provisions of Russia’s law on digital currencies and digital rights, in force since September 1. Registered firms must follow the central bank’s rules for crypto transactions from the day they are listed. Full compliance with the law is due by September 1, 2027.

First Products Due December 1

Sberbank secured a license to issue and exchange digital assets in March 2022. Since 2025, it has sold structured bonds and digital financial assets tied to Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). In December 2025, Sberbank completed a pilot of loans backed by crypto collateral.

Alexander Vedyakhin, First Deputy Chairman of Sberbank, said on July 24 that the bank planned to build crypto trading infrastructure and a digital depository by December 1. The State Duma had passed the crypto law in its third reading three days earlier.

Sberbank applied for depository status on the first day applications opened. It said it would start with BTC, ETH and the stablecoin Tether (USDT). Those services will run inside SberBank Online, SberInvestments, and SberBusiness, with no separate app.

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