Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, prepares to issue crypto-backed loans
Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, is moving toward offering loans secured by cryptocurrency and said Friday it is prepared to coordinate with the country’s central bank on shaping the necessary regulatory framework, according to Reuters.
The lender has already tested the model in January. The bank issued the country’s first bitcoin-backed loan to one of its largest bitcoin miners, IntelionData, calling the transaction a pilot and suggesting it was keen to issue more in the future.
The volume of digital financial asset issuances on the platform hit 408 billion rubles (about $5.3 billion) in 2025 — an increase of 5.6 times versus 2024 (73 billion rubles, or $948 million) and 204 times greater than 2023 (2 billion rubles or…
