REPORTED: This is based on Interfax, which cites a notice on the Bank of Russia website. TSN could not find the notice on the central bank’s site directly.
Russia’s central bank has added Sberbank, the country’s largest bank, to its register of organisations allowed to exchange digital currencies, Interfax reported on 12 October 2026 [1].
Earlier in October, Sber was also added to the register of digital depositories, which will keep records of who owns crypto and digital rights [1][2].
Sber has said the new status “will allow the bank to provide services for organising the circulation of digital currency in interfaces clients already use” (TSN translation) [1]. Its first products are planned for 1 December [1].
Who else is on the list
Besides Sber, the register of crypto exchange organisations now has eight members, including VTB and T-Invest Lab, part of the T-Technologies group alongside T-Bank [1]. Five companies are on the digital depository register, including VTB and Atomyze, also part of T-Technologies [1].
VTB was added to both registers on 6 October [2].
The new rules
Russia’s law “On digital currencies and digital rights” came into force on 1 September. It lets people trade crypto through existing exchanges, brokers and trust managers, and creates two new kinds of firm: crypto exchangers, where people can buy and sell crypto, and digital depositories, which record ownership of these assets [1]. Firms could apply to the central bank from 5 October [1].
According to the central bank, crypto exchangers can buy and sell digital currencies in their own name and with their own money outside organised trading [2].
What Sber is testing
Sberbank told Vedomosti it is already testing trades in bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), the stablecoin USDT and other major tokens in its app, CoinDesk reports. The central bank will set the final list of coins allowed [3].
CoinDesk also notes that paying for things with crypto inside Russia remains banned, and that, according to the central bank, from July 2027 crypto transactions will have to go through registered intermediaries [3].
What this means
- Russia’s biggest bank is in. Sber now sits on both new registers, so it can offer crypto trading and record clients’ holdings.
- Start date: 1 December. That is Sber’s plan. Earlier this month it said the date depended on the central bank and on the remaining rules being ready [2].
- Tighter control, not free use. Crypto payments stay banned inside Russia, and trades will be pushed through licensed firms [3].
Sources
- Interfax, “ЦБ РФ внес Сбер в реестр криптообменников” (Bank of Russia adds Sber to crypto exchange register), 12 October 2026. https://www.interfax.ru/business/1121909
- Interfax, “ЦБ РФ выдал Сберу, ВТБ и другим игрокам лицензии для допуска к крипторынку”, 6 October 2026. https://www.interfax.ru/business/1120700
- CoinDesk, “Russia’s largest bank Sberbank secures approval to trade crypto”, 13 October 2026. https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/10/13/russia-s-largest-bank-sberbank-secures-approval-to-trade-crypto
