Russia’s largest bank Sberbank secures approval to trade crypto
Sberbank plans to open crypto trading to all clients Dec. 1 and is already testing BTC, ETH and USDT trades in its app.
Source: CoinDesk
―
DW NOTE
Russia's central bank spent two years proposing to ban crypto exchanges, then reversed course and built a licensing regime instead. Sberbank now holds both exchange and depository licenses — meaning it can trade crypto and record ownership through the same institution that holds 30% of Russian retail deposits. The regime still bans crypto payments and will require intermediaries starting July 2027, but the structure is clear: state-controlled banks running a parallel financial system the sanctions enforcers can't freeze.