Russia’s biggest bank is building something most Western financial institutions have deliberately avoided: a full-stack Sberbank crypto infrastructure designed to bring digital asset trading, custody, and settlement inside a state-regulated framework — and it needs to be ready by December 1, 2026.

Key takeaways

• Sberbank plans to launch cryptocurrency trading infrastructure, including a digital depository, by December 1, 2026.
• The depository will record clients’ crypto ownership and process most transactions off the main blockchain.
• Russia’s broader crypto regulatory framework takes effect September 1, 2026, with licensing compliance required by July 1, 2027.
• The Bank of Russia will oversee five categories of regulated…