Sberbank Wins Bank of Russia Approval to Custody Bitcoin

Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, said on Wednesday that the Bank of Russia has approved it to keep records of digital currencies and to facilitate transfers of those assets, making it the first bank in the country cleared for crypto custody, according to Bitcoinmagazine. Bitcoin and other, smaller cryptocurrencies were included in the approval.

Sberbank said customers will carry out cryptocurrency transactions through SberBank Online, SberInvestments and SberBusiness, its existing online banking platforms. No new apps or platforms will be released, the bank said. Blockonomi reported that customers will use familiar banking tools rather than separate crypto products, and that the bank will first test the service with a limited group of customers before opening it more widely.

Also readRussia's Largest Bank Sberbank Plans Crypto Wallet Launch by December

Russia builds out crypto rules

The approval sits inside a fast-moving regulatory buildout. President Vladimir Putin signed a law this month covering digital currencies and digital rights in Russia. The Bank of Russia published draft rules for crypto trading in July, and the State Duma has worked through 2026 on comprehensive digital asset regulation, Blockonomi reported.

Sberbank described the practical effect for users in terms of routine banking plumbing: transactions move into familiar interfaces with standard customer identification, transaction monitoring and reporting. Bitcoinmagazine reported that the service will be offered to a limited number of customers before a mass rollout.

Also readAlfa-Bank Plans Crypto Custody and Trading as Russia Moves Toward Digital Asset Rules

The two outlets frame the approval slightly differently. Sberbank’s own statement, as carried by Bitcoinmagazine, emphasises the first-in-country status and the banking interfaces customers will use. Blockonomi positions the same decision as the latest step in a broader rule-making process, citing the US SEC’s crypto custody proposal released the previous week and Rain’s federal trust bank application in the United States as parallel examples of financial firms seeking regulated routes into digital assets. It also notes the OKX expansion beyond crypto trading as a similar push elsewhere.

Why it matters

Custody is the first piece of crypto infrastructure a large bank can offer without touching payments, and that is the line Russia has drawn. Since 2022, Russian law has barred crypto as payment or legal tender, and the new approval does not change that. What it does change is where Russian customers can hold and move digital assets: inside the same apps and identity checks they already use for ordinary banking.

For Sberbank, the approval converts a July plan into a live regulated product line, with the Bank of Russia as the overseer. For the wider market, it marks one of the largest state-linked lenders stepping into custody, a step that firms elsewhere are pursuing through different national frameworks. Putin has previously said Bitcoin cannot be stopped, while Russian authorities continue writing the rules for how people and companies may use digital assets.

What to watch

The immediate test is the limited-customer pilot and how quickly Sberbank widens access ahead of the December wallet and custody target it set in July. Further out, the State Duma’s digital asset legislation and the Bank of Russia’s final trading rules will determine what other Russian institutions can offer.

Sources: Bitcoin Magazine, Blockonomi