Overview
- Sberbank said it will accept Bitcoin as collateral for loans immediately under the incoming legal framework and will add Ethereum and Tether’s USDT only after the Bank of Russia permits their public circulation, with the core law taking effect on September 1, 2026.
- The bank is building custody, wallet and a regulated digital-asset depository, targeting completion of the depository by December 1, 2026 and a retail wallet within months after the law is in force, building on a December 2025 pilot loan that used mined Bitcoin as collateral.
- The Bank of Russia has proposed a short list that includes Bitcoin, Ether and USDT for regulated trading, and the new rules set retail limits, required knowledge tests and a transition period for licensed intermediaries through mid-2027.
- Accepting USDT poses a specific operational and compliance challenge because Tether can freeze tokens, and Sberbank already faces Western sanctions that could complicate custody, settlement and cross-border access to funds.
- Sberbank projects large trading volumes under the new regime — about 4 trillion rubles in the first year and 7.5 trillion by 2029 — and says crypto-backed loans could let miners and companies get liquidity without selling their holdings, though commercial terms and loan-to-value rules remain undisclosed.