The planned wallet and digital depository could bring legal crypto access into Sberbank’s apps under Russia’s new rules, tying trading to custody, limits and compliance while domestic crypto payments remain banned.
Sberbank plans to add a crypto wallet and digital depository to Sberbank Online and SberInvestments by Dec. 1, a move that could show how Russia intends to channel legal digital-asset activity through supervised banking infrastructure. The rollout remains contingent on the final text of Russia’s digital-currency law and related rules, with the bill expected to take effect on Sept. 1 and implementing acts potentially ready by early November. The Bank of Russia’s current concept would allow digital currencies and stablecoins to be bought and sold while keeping domestic crypto payments banned. It would create a tiered access model in which non-qualified investors must pass tests and stay within a 300,000-ruble annual limit through a single intermediary, while qualified investors would have broader access, excluding anonymous cryptocurrencies. The reported December timetable suggests Russia’s legal crypto market may open through a tightly controlled on-ramp rather than an open market, with state-owned bank custody, transaction limits and compliance checks central to access. Sberbank is also weighing whether it could act as an intermediary for Russians trading on foreign crypto exchanges, a decision that depends on final domestic and foreign regulatory requirements.