Russia & Cryptos. There Sberbank (Or Sber) is the largest commercial bank in Russia and it has just announced the launch of a new financial product that will interest lovers of cryptocurrencies. This is a structured obligation linked to Bitcoin and at the USD/RUB exchange rate which will allow so -called qualified investors to take advantage of the increase in the dollar and the BTC, without having to directly hold the crypto.
- The Sberbank, the largest bank in Russia, launched a structured obligation linked to Bitcoin and at the exchange rate USD/RUB.
- This initiative reflects the growing interest of Russian banks for cryptocurrencies, despite regulatory constraints.
SberBank offers an exhibition at Bitcoin and the US dollar
According to the press release published by Sberbank This May 30, 2025, this Structured obligation is already available on the overwhelming market (OTC) for qualified investors. The bank then plans to rate it at the Grant Moscow In the near future to ensure better liquidity and greater transparency.
This financial product allows investors to generate income based on performance two underlying assets: the Bitcoin Dollars course and the exchange rate Between the US dollar and the Russian ruble. They will thus be able to benefit from the increase in dollar and BTCwithout needing to go through unregulated platforms or crypto wallets.
All transactions are carried out in rubleswhich is OBLIGATORY in the Russian regulatory framework. For Sberbankit is therefore a question of proposing innovative financial products while respecting the legal constraints imposed by the Russian authorities.
Russian banks are cryptocurrency
Sberbank is not the only Russian bank to be interested in cryptocurrenciesbecause that same day, the bank T-bank (Formerly Tinkoff Bank) also announced the launch of an investment product linked to the price of the BTC, which it qualifies « Intelligent assets ».
These initiatives follow the decision of Central Bank of Russia to authorize financial institutions to offer certain financial instruments based on cryptocurrencies to accredited investors. However, the Central Bank said that these institutions could not directly offer cryptos to their customers, even if the institution was still recently ecstatic on the performance of the first of them!
This gradual opening From Russian banks to cryptocurrencies reflects the growing interest of the Russians for these digital assets. According to a report From the Central Bank published on May 29, 2025, Russian residents would hold approximately 827 billion rubles ($ 9.2 billion) of cryptocurrencies on centralized platforms.
The same report indicates that incoming flow on Russian crypto platforms have increased by 51% in the first quarter of 2025, reaching 7.3 ruble trillion ($ 81.5 billion). Among them, Bitcoin represents 62% of the volume of exchanges, followed by Ethereum (22%) and Stablecoins like USDT and USDC.
While Russia is still at war with Ukraine, cryptocurrencies seem to have become a popular alternative to Russians who seek to protect their savings in the face of inflation and international sanctions. And Russian banks, Pragmatically, understood this.