Bank of Russia expands licensed crypto venues

TLDR

The Bank of Russia has licensed its first regulated crypto exchanges and custodians, expanding Russias officially approved venues for digital assets under a new national framework.

1. The central bank registered four exchange operators and five custodians, including major banks like Sberbank and VTB, under rules that took effect on 1 September.
2. Russian users will gain regulated access to Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Tether (USDT) through bank apps, but retail usage is tightly capped and crypto payments in shops remain banned.
3. Globally, this moves Russia toward a state-controlled, low-risk crypto market, signaling a model where banks offer custody and trading within strict limits rather than open exchange-style platforms.

Deep Dive

1. What Was Licensed

The Bank of Russia has published registers listing four crypto exchange operators and five digital custodians under its new law on digital currency and digital rights, effective 1 September. The listed custodians include Sberbank, VTB Bank, Atomyze, Voltari and Cloud Infrastructure, while exchange operators include T-Invest Lab, Zefir, Sistema Crypto and VTB Bank, which appears on both lists, according to official register summaries.

These firms must immediately follow transaction and accounting rules and fully align with the framework by 1 September 2027, creating a supervised market structure for crypto custody and over-the-counter trading rather than unregulated venues.

2. How Russian Users Can Access Crypto

Under the new regime, custodians can record and transfer digital currencies and digital rights, and provide access to the addresses where assets are held, while exchange operators can buy and sell digital currencies in their own name and with their own funds. Sberbank and VTB plan consumer-facing products for BTC, ETH and USDT via existing banking apps from late 2026, as reported by crypto.news.

Nonqualified retail investors face an annual limit of 300,000 rubles per intermediary for eligible assets, and Russia still bans using crypto for ordinary domestic payments, although regulated cross-border settlements are permitted.

3. Broader Market And Risk Implications

The framework deliberately separates custody, recordkeeping and trading, placing large, state-linked institutions at the core of Russias digital-asset infrastructure rather than independent crypto firms. The Bank of Russia has also proposed capping banks combined crypto and foreign digital-instrument risk at 1 percent of capital with a high risk weight, according to regulatory coverage.

This suggests a policy approach focused on tightly controlled, balance-sheet-light exposure to crypto, which could dampen speculative activity but make institutional participation more acceptable to regulators.

Conclusion

Russias move to expand licensed crypto venues brings its market out of a largely grey area into a structured, bank-led regime that favors BTC, ETH and USDT. For crypto users, it opens regulated access inside mainstream banking apps while keeping strong limits on usage and risk. The key to watch is whether these state-backed platforms grow volumes despite caps, or whether Russian crypto activity continues to favor offshore and on-chain alternatives.