Russia’s Biggest Bank to Launch Crypto Trading: June 2021

• Russia’s largest banking institution by assets value – Sberbank – will reportedly enable private investors to buy and sell digital currencies in the following weeks.
• The offering could be introduced to clients by the end of June, as confirmed by Anatoly Popov – Deputy Chairman of the board.
• Last year, Sberbank sought approval to issue its own digital currency and introduced the first blockchain-focused ETF in Russia.

Russia’s Biggest Bank Introducing Crypto Trading

Russia’s biggest bank by assets value – Sberbank – is reportedly allowing private investors to buy and sell digital currencies in the coming weeks. This was confirmed by Anatoly Popov – Deputy Chairman of the Board – who stated that this function will open for individuals as early as June.

Previous Cryptocurrency Projects

Sberbank has been attempting various cryptocurrency projects for a few years now. These include seeking approval to issue its own digital currency and introducing the first blockchain-focused ETF in Russia.

Bringing Liquidity To Platform

Alexander Vedyakhin, First Deputy Chairman of Sberbank, said last year that they need to give individuals access to these platforms and that it would „bring liquidity“ to their platform at the end of Q1 or beginning of Q2 2023.

Future Plans

Sberbank is looking at further expansion into crypto trading with plans to launch a “futures market for cryptocurrencies”, offering derivatives based on Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and other major cryptos later this year. They also plan on introducing a range of products linked to Bitcoin prices ealier next year such as Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).

Conclusion

It seems that Sberbank’s foray into cryptocurrencies is growing larger each day, with more features being added as part of their cryptocurrency offerings. It will be interesting to see how this affects future crypto adoption in Russia and abroad going forward