TL;DR:
- Sberbank’s Anatoly Popov says the bank is exploring crypto-collateral loans and is ready to build infrastructure with regulators, after already 160 tokenized issues.
- Russia’s framework targets July 1, 2026, splitting qualified and non-qualified access, capping retail at 300,000 rubles annually and banning anonymous tokens for qualified buyers.
- Russia logged $376.3B in crypto receipts; Sberbank already sold 1.5B rubles of crypto-linked products and is preparing for 2027 penalties on illegal intermediaries.
Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, is evaluating loans secured by cryptocurrency as the country’s financial sector accelerates its digital-asset buildout. Deputy chairman Anatoly Popov told TASS the lender is ready to collaborate with regulators on the infrastructure for crypto-collateral lending, while acknowledging the framework is still nascent. He hopes to announce deals soon, but only within a compliant structure. Sberbank’s positioning is not theoretical: it has organized more than 160 tokenized issues this year spanning real estate, oil, and commodity-linked products. This is a credit-layer extension of an existing tokenization strategy, with timing tied to rulemaking.
The regulatory runway to mid-2026
Regulation sets the pace; markets are lining up. Moscow Exchange and St. Petersburg Exchange said they are ready to launch crypto trading once legislation takes effect by July 1, 2026, following the central bank’s regulatory concept. Access would split between qualified and non-qualified investors. Retail participation is capped and gated by testing, with non-qualified buyers limited to liquid coins from defined lists and an annual cap of 300,000 rubles via one intermediary. Qualified investors face no volume limits but remain barred from anonymous tokens; lawmaker Anatoly Aksakov has said crypto will not become money domestically.
The push reflects scale. Russia logged $376.3 billion in crypto transaction receipts from July 2024 to June 2025, overtaking the United Kingdom and becoming Europe’s largest market by volume. Large transfers above $10 million rose 86%, while DeFi activity surged eightfold in early 2025 before stabilizing at 3.5 times mid-2023 levels. A7A5, a ruble-pegged stablecoin, has exceeded $500 million in market cap despite sanctions. Nabiullina said mining supports the ruble, though still difficult to quantify. Policy is shifting from resistance to managed rails as flows intensify, including debates on treating crypto mining as export activity.
Sberbank is also building product plumbing ahead of the deadline. It has offered crypto-linked investments totaling 1.5 billion rubles in structured bonds and digital financial assets tied to Bitcoin, Ethereum, and broader portfolios. It launched blockchain tokens tracking cocoa prices, with each token representing 1 kilogram and available to qualified investors for up to four months. Popov says the bank is in dialogue with the Bank of Russia and could act as a liquidity provider and market maker. The timeline targets legislation by July 1, 2026, and penalties for illegal intermediaries from July 1, 2027.
