Russia's Biggest Bank Sberbank Wins Approval to Trade Bitcoin

The Bank of Russia has added Sberbank to its register of organizations authorized to exchange digital currencies, clearing the country's largest lender to buy and sell crypto in its own name and with its own money. The decision was posted on the regulator's website, Russian outlet Interfax reported.

The approval landed six days after the central bank put Sberbank on its separate list of digital depositories, the firms that keep the official record of who owns which coins. Holding both statuses lets the bank sit on the other side of a client's trade and also keep the ledger of that client's holdings, without sending anyone to an outside venue.

Sberbank said the depository status would let it offer crypto services in interfaces clients already use. That means SberBank Online, SberInvestments and SberBusiness, where the bank plans to start with Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether's USDT on December 1, according to its press service.

The bank has hedged that date, saying it depends on the central bank's decisions and on the secondary regulations being ready in time. Both approvals by the Bank of Russia have now arrived, which leaves the secondary rulebook as the main variable.

Sberbank ended the second quarter with 110.6 million retail clients and 3.5 million corporate clients, per its quarterly results. Plugging crypto into that user base turns a regulated on-ramp into one more menu item inside an app those customers already use for everyday banking.

Deputy Chairman Anatoly Popov has forecast that crypto trading volumes in Russia could reach 4 trillion rubles, roughly $46 billion, in the regime's first year and 7.5 trillion rubles by 2029 or nearly $89.7 billion. The bank also plans to accept Ethereum and USDT, alongside Bitcoin, as collateral for loans once the central bank allows them into public circulation.

Under the law Putin signed in August, non-qualified investors can spend up to 300,000 rubles (about $3,800) a year per intermediary, buyers must pass a knowledge test, and the central bank's draft list of tradable coins includes only Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT.

In January 2022, the Bank of Russia proposed banning crypto use, mining and exchanges outright, citing threats to financial stability. Less than five years later, it is licensing the country's biggest lender to run a crypto desk. As of today, spending crypto inside Russia is still illegal, so Sberbank customers will be able to buy Bitcoin but not pay for products with it.