Sberbank targets December launch for Russia crypto wallet

Russia could soon get a legal bank-based route into crypto, a shift that may pull part of the market into regulated apps while leaving offshore trading active. Sberbank, the country’s majority state-owned lender, plans to add a crypto wallet and digital depository to Sberbank Online and SberInvestments by Dec. 1, according to RB.ru, citing comments from first deputy chairman Kirill Tsarev to RBC.

The rollout depends on the final version of Russia’s digital-currency law and the rules that follow. Interfax reported the bill is expected to take effect on Sept. 1, with implementing acts possibly ready by early November. That would give banks and other firms a short window to turn the legal framework into live products.

Under the Bank of Russia’s current concept, people would be allowed to buy and sell digital currencies and stablecoins, but not use crypto for domestic payments. Non-qualified investors would need to pass tests and stay within a 300,000-ruble annual limit through a single intermediary. Qualified investors would get broader access, except to anonymous cryptocurrencies.

Sberbank is also weighing whether it can act as an intermediary for Russians using foreign crypto exchanges. That decision matters because strict limits at home could keep heavy users, self-custody users, and sanctions-sensitive flows on offshore and peer-to-peer channels.