The post Sberbank wants to provide custody services for domestic crypto assets appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

Russian bank Sberbank plans to offer custody services for the country’s crypto assets. With more foreign banks embracing crypto custody, Anatoly Pronin, the Executive Director of Sberbank’s Alternative Payment Solutions Department, said they presented a proposal to the central bank on domestic crypto asset regulation. Lately, Russia’s central bank has been more open to pro-crypto policies. Last year, they permitted companies to trade in crypto to bypass Western sanctions implemented due to the Ukraine war. Russia’s Sberbank says it wants to regulate digital assets like the funds in bank accounts At a crypto regulation discussion, Pronin explained that Sberbank would want to oversee crypto assets like it does customer deposits, to ensure token security. He added that their custody service would include mechanisms to freeze assets upon suspicion of illegal activity and promote secure, accessible user transactions. Russia’s central bank disclosed it would allow financial institutions to provide crypto investment products in late May. It detailed that the new rules would cover instruments, including derivatives and tokenized instruments, tied to crypto value changes. However, investors can only engage in non-deliverable contracts, meaning they can’t hold or receive cryptocurrencies. The bank also stated that financial institutions must follow a risk-averse assessment strategy before launching crypto instruments to avoid compromising financial stability. However, the CBR never specified whether it would allow crypto custody services. Sberbank came up with a workaround to bypass Western sanctions Sberbank has been trying to make transactions easier for its users. In June, the bank devised a workaround that routes wire transfers to European banks via intermediaries, avoiding Western sanctions and the SWIFT bans. The bank’s clients can now transfer rubles through its mobile app to European cardholders at Revolut or N26. However, on the recipient’s side, the transfers do not display Sberbank’s name; instead, they show the…

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Filed under: News - @ July 17, 2025 7:32 pm