Sanctioned Sberbank leads queue to offer liquidity for Russia's crypto market

Majority state-owned banking and financial giant Sberbank will play the role of a market maker for authorized cryptocurrency trading in the Russian Federation.

Known for its own projects in the digital assets space, Russia’s largest bank now hopes to see the emergence of a whole “new world” of crypto investment opportunities.

Sberbank to act as market maker for Russian crypto platforms

The biggest bank in Russia in terms of assets, Sberbank, will become a market maker providing liquidity for regulated platforms that will give qualified Russian investors access to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, a high-ranking executive unveiled.

Speaking to the business news outlet RBC, the head of Sberbank’s Global Markets Department, Alexander Zozulya, praised the Bank of Russia’s “important step” to announce the development of an experimental legal regime (ELR) for crypto transactions and emphasized:

“We expect the emergence of a legal ‘sandbox,’ an analogue of a regulated crypto platform, where super-qualified investors will be allowed to operate directly with cryptocurrencies.”

Zozulya’s comments come after the Governor of the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) Elvira Nabiullina admitted earlier this month that direct investments in crypto assets would require regulatory changes and dedicated infrastructure.

During her appearance at the “Russian Stock Market—2025” conference in mid-May, Nabiullina also made it clear that such transactions should be carried out exclusively within the ELR framework and available only to “highly qualified” investors.

The monetary authority proposed the establishment of the special regime and the “highly qualified investors” category in March of this year. The ELR will allow Russian companies to exchange and use cryptocurrencies in foreign trade, bypassing Ukraine war-related restrictions.

To be considered sufficiently qualified to put money into crypto, Russians will have to prove investments in securities or deposits exceeding 100 million rubles (approximately $1.25 million) and annual income from the past year of more than 50 million rubles ($625,000), the CBR suggested.

Standards for financial institutions are yet to be drafted.

Russian investors to have access to crypto ETFs as well

Products that provide exposure to cryptocurrencies without direct ownership of the digital assets will also be available to investors in Russia, Alexander Zozulya revealed. These will be similar to the cryptocurrency ETFs (exchange-traded funds) known in the West, he explained.

In Russia, these could be structured products, digital financial assets (DFAs) or mutual funds linked to the prices of Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) or a basket of cryptocurrencies, he elaborated, adding that Sberbank intends to offer such solutions.

Zozulya remarked that the government-backed behemoth “is moving in this direction quite quickly,” together with the Bank of Russia. However, amendments to Russia’s Civil and Tax Codes as well as CBR’s own rules are still needed for the launch of a crypto ETF-like product.

A list of changes has been prepared already, and Sberbank’s infrastructure is ready, the executive said and promised:

“As soon as this is allowed, a ‘new world’ of instruments for investing in cryptocurrency will appear.”

Zozulya also unveiled that Russian authorities plan to set up an experimental platform for qualified investors in order to “whiten” direct crypto ownership or, in other words, bring it out of the shadows.

Crypto-related operations are yet to be properly regulated in Russia, where only mining has so far been recognized as a legal business activity. The central bank remains a strong opponent to permitting the free circulation of Bitcoin and the like in the country’s economy outside the ELR.

In her speech at the stock market forum this month, Elvira Nabiullina acknowledged existing interest in issuing financial instruments, the yield of which is tied to the value of cryptocurrencies, and said the matter had been discussed with the finance ministry in Moscow.

Sberbank, rebranded to Sber in 2020, is among the leading Russian banks that have signaled a willingness to take part in Moscow’s crypto experiment, alongside VTB and Alfa-Bank. It is the successor of the Soviet Union’s main retail and savings bank and is currently Russia’s largest universal bank.

Sberbank was added to Western sanctions lists after the 2014 annexation of Crimea.

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