Sberbank Gets Green Light to Offer Bitcoin Trading to 110 Million Retail Clients

Russia’s Sberbank has received regulatory approval to buy and sell digital assets, opening a new channel for crypto traders. The move follows the Bank of Russia’s digital asset framework, designed to increase adoption and bring institutional and retail investors into legal channels.

Sberbank To Launch BTC, ETH & USDT Services

The country’s largest bank was added to a register of firms authorized to exchange cryptocurrencies days after it was included on a list of digital depositories. This allows the bank to track client holdings and provide relevant information to users.

The register lists eight firms, highlighting the bank’s key role in the market. This follows increased institutional crypto adoption in Russia amid emerging economic factors.

Per the announcement, the bank seeks to build on its initial traction in digital assets by offering new services through existing channels. It would offer Bitcoin and Ethereum services before adding USDT on December 1.

While the date seems feasible, it largely depends on the central bank’s regulations and approvals. Several retail users have leaned into the bank’s support, citing growing use cases and a flexible asset class in the financial market. 

Sberbank’s new digital asset licenses benefit users and the government in many ways. For users, the bank boasts 110.6 million retail users and 3.5 million institutional clients. Some of those clients would easily increase their exposure to digital assets without the hassle of jumping through platforms.

Russia has shifted from proposing a blanket ban on private crypto assets to promoting digital currencies within five years. President Vladimir Putin signed Russia’s first crypto law, which sets broad industry rules governing mining, exchanges, custodians, and more.

The law names Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT as the initial tradable assets and sets a $3,800 annual cap for non-qualified investors, along with other rules. Sberbank Deputy Chairman Anatoly Popov expects Russia’s trading volumes to hit 4 trillion rubles and expand significantly within three years.

“According to Finance Ministry data as of February, the daily volume of cryptocurrency transactions in Russia is around 50 bln rubles, or roughly 18 trillion rubles a year. SberCIB Investment Research analysts have a fairly conservative estimate: in the first year after legalization, around 20% of this volume, or 3.5-4 trillion rubles a year, will be traded on exchanges.”