Sberbank Launches Crypto Trading Infrastructure Amid Tightened Regulations

Russia's largest bank, Sberbank, is making a significant move into cryptocurrency trading and storage. By December 1st, the bank plans to launch its infrastructure for buying, selling, and securely storing digital assets.

This development follows the approval of new regulations by the Russian Federation Council that place crypto trading within a legal framework.

The new regulations will require all transactions to be conducted through licensed intermediaries starting in July 2027. To list on public exchanges, cryptocurrencies must have an average market capitalization over the last two years exceeding 5 trillion rubles ($64 billion) and daily trading volume exceeding 1 trillion rubles ($12.8 billion).

Sberbank's digital custody center will record customers' cryptocurrency assets, with a large portion of transactions conducted off the main blockchain network for efficiency.