Russia's Largest Bank to Offer Crypto Trading Services

Russia’s Largest Bank to Offer Crypto Trading Services

Updated: 09 June 2023

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Sberbank, the largest bank in Russia, is set to offer crypto trading services to its customers soon.

The Russian bank announced it would start offering crypto trading services in June. Its customers can now access crypto asset services, including buying and selling cryptocurrencies.

Sberbank to Start Offering Crypto Trading Services

While the U.S. continues its crackdown on the crypto asset industry, the international cryptocurrency industry is moving forward encouragingly. Sberbank has taken a step forward by planning to introduce crypto trading services to its customers.

🚨#BREAKING: 🇷🇺 Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, to offer #crypto trading services. pic.twitter.com/aGFTv9GCcQ

— The Roundtable Show (@RoundtableSpace) June 8, 2023

Anatoly Popov, the board chairman, has confirmed the introduction of the new function and reassured customers that they could buy and sell CFAs (Crypto Financial Assets). A blend of assets and securities will back these CFAs. The availability of this new function has been rescheduled for June, which differs from the original time given.

Sberbank had revealed its plans to include Ethereum in its DeFi ecosystem, laying the groundwork for the upcoming platform. Furthermore, the new platform aims to make DeFi more accessible and user-friendly for a wider audience. The platform will connect popular software cryptocurrency wallets such as MetaMask and Coinbase.

According to Popov, Sberbank has high expectations for the newly developed function. In addition, he foresees issuing digital assets worth tens of billions of rubles in the near future. The announcement for these crypto trading services was made in late 2022, originally intending to launch in the first quarter of 2023.

Vedyakhin, the Bank’s Deputy Chairman, also put emphasis on this development’s advantages. However, he states that investors interested in crypto assets should improve the bank’s liquidity. Moreover, Sberbank has introduced new review functions to encourage investment decision-making in the digital asset sector.

Sberbank Leading the Way in Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Innovation

The Russian bank has been closely observing the cryptocurrency market for some time. In December 2021, the bank launched Russia’s first exchange-traded fund (ETF), the Sberbank Blockchain Economy ETF, listed on the Russian stock market as SBBE.

Furthermore, in March 2022, the Russian Central Bank gave Sberbank a license to commit to cryptocurrency activities. This license also allows the bank to provide and trade crypto assets in compliance with financial industry regulations.

Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, says it will foray into DeFi and Web3 by integrating its blockchain platform with the Ethereum blockchain.

Sberbank’s latest addition also integrates major software cryptocurrency wallets MetaMask and coinbase pic.twitter.com/td3wBxSEPu

— AGIAI official tweet (@AGIAIex) January 11, 2023

Sberbank’s website serves approximately 110 million retail and one million institutional customers. This move agrees with Josh Fraser, co-founder of Origin Protocol, who sees Ethereum as the foundational layer for invention in most DeFi applications.

According to Fraser, Ethereum (ETH) will gain speed as more protocols, companies, and countries join the Ethereum network and contribute to creating decentralized solutions.

Since March, the platform has been in closed beta testing under the rules governing financial transactions. However, when the services start, the users can use them by connecting to the site using their MetaMask wallets hosted on Ethereum, the largest DeFi blockchain in cryptocurrencies. The blockchain has a total value locked (TVL) exceeding $29 billion.