Sberbank Wins Approval to Trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT — SkimNews
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- The Bank of Russia added Sberbank to its register of crypto exchange operators on October 12, six days after listing it as a digital depository, giving the bank dual status to trade and hold crypto on its own books.
- Sberbank plans to launch Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT trading on December 1 inside SberBank Online, SberInvestments, and SberBusiness — a date it says depends on secondary regulations being ready in time.
- Retail buyers face a 300,000 ruble (~$3,800) annual cap per intermediary and must pass a mandatory knowledge test under the law Putin signed in August; spending crypto on goods inside Russia remains illegal.
- Deputy Chairman Anatoly Popov forecast Russian crypto trading volumes of 4 trillion rubles (~$46 billion) in the regime's first year and 7.5 trillion rubles (~$89.7 billion) by 2029, with Sberbank's 3.5 million corporate clients on the same rails.
- The Bank of Russia proposed banning crypto outright in January 2022, citing financial stability threats — less than five years later, it is licensing the country's biggest lender to run a crypto desk; firms on the registers have until September 1, 2027 to comply fully.
Why it matters: Sberbank's 110.6 million retail and 3.5 million corporate clients get a regulated on-ramp to crypto inside apps they already use, capped at roughly $3,800 per retail buyer per year. The Bank of Russia proposed banning crypto less than five years ago; licensing its biggest bank to run a crypto desk now turns crypto into a mainstream banking product for ordinary Russian savers — though spending it on goods remains illegal.
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