Russia’s regulated crypto market opens with four exchanges and five custodians

Russia’s regulated crypto market, which opened on September 1, now has its first four cryptocurrency exchange operators and five digital custodians. Sberbank and VTB Bank are among the registered institutions, with transaction and accounting obligations taking effect immediately but full compliance due by September 1, 2027.

Key takeaways

• VTB Bank appears in both registers; Sberbank is registered for custody.
• Sberbank targets December 1 for trading and custody services.
• Retail purchases face a yearly limit of 300,000 rubles per intermediary.
• A proposed bank exposure ceiling covers crypto and foreign digital instruments.

According to crypto.news, the Bank of Russia admitted the companies through transitional provisions in the law “On Digital Currency and Digital Rights.” President Vladimir Putin signed the law in August, establishing the infrastructure under which the firms are registering.

The first firms in Russia’s regulated crypto market

The digital depository register includes Sberbank, VTB Bank, Atomyze, Voltari and Cloud Infrastructure. The four registered exchange operators are VTB, Zefir, Sistema Crypto and T Invest Lab.

The transitional arrangement allows these businesses to operate while completing the remaining regulatory changes. Their deadline for full compliance is September 1, 2027; transaction and accounting requirements apply from the day each company enters the registers.

The central bank’s admission rules cover management and officer qualifications, application documents and procedures for approving applicants. Existing financial market participants can apply through a simplified process.

Custody and exchange permissions differ

Digital depositories can maintain records of digital currencies and digital rights, handle transfers and give customers access to the identifier addresses holding their assets. Exchange operators can buy and sell digital currencies using their own money and acting in their own name, outside organized trading venues.

The depository rules follow a model similar to traditional securities custody: firms must maintain asset records and information about customers who can access the system.

Draft operating rules published by the Bank of Russia in July set minimum equity requirements of 50 million to 250 million rubles. The applicable amount depends on services, including work with open distributed ledgers and post-trade settlement.

Sberbank and VTB set service launch targets

Sberbank targets December 1 for crypto trading and custody, with Bitcoin, Ether and USDT expected among its initial assets. Its planned infrastructure includes trading, settlement and digital depository services.

Customers are expected to access those services through SberBank Online, SberInvestments and SberBusiness. In August, the lender also disclosed plans to accept BTC, ETH and USDT as loan collateral once it receives the necessary regulatory approvals.

According to VTB Bank Deputy CEO Vitaly Sergeichuk, investors could gain the ability to trade digital currencies via VTB My Investments as soon as November. The bank expects its own crypto exchange to follow in December.

Investor limits and payment restrictions

Russia’s regulated crypto market allows nonqualified investors to purchase eligible cryptocurrencies worth up to 300,000 rubles annually through each intermediary, after a suitability test. Qualified investors have no equivalent annual purchase ceiling, but testing still applies.

The central bank identified Bitcoin, Ether and USDT as assets that potentially satisfy retail-trading criteria based on liquidity and trading history.

Cryptocurrency payments for ordinary goods and services remain prohibited inside Russia. Separate rules allow approved digital currency use in certain cross-border transactions, including foreign-trade settlements, under Bank of Russia supervision.

Russian customers opening digital depository accounts must provide their individual taxpayer identification number, or INN. Rosfinmonitoring said the identifier supports transaction transparency; transfers above specified thresholds require payer and recipient information.

Proposed bank limits cover more than direct holdings

The Bank of Russia has proposed capping banks’ combined exposure to cryptocurrencies and foreign digital instruments at 1% of capital. The draft prudential framework covers direct holdings, derivatives and other linked instruments.

Crypto exposure and certain customer positions would receive a 1,250% risk weight. Cryptocurrencies and foreign digital instruments would also be excluded as collateral when banks calculate provisions for potential losses.

Reporting on turnover in the affected instruments and the new prudential ratios is expected to begin in January 2027.

Article produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by the editorial team.