Russia’s Sber eyes USDT loans, questions digital ruble demand
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Russia’s Sber eyes USDT loans, questions digital ruble demand
Russia’s largest bank, Sber, plans to accept USDT and Ether alongside Bitcoin as loan collateral as the country introduces regulated crypto trading under a new law.
Russia's Sberbank Sees $46 Billion in Crypto Trading, Plans Ethereum and USDT-Backed Loans
Deputy Chairman Anatoly Popov told state media that trading could hit 4 trillion rubles in its first year, as the bank prepares to broaden crypto-backed lending once regulators sign off.
Russian Central Bank Governor: Digital ruble will be launched on September 1st.
PANews reported on July 3rd, citing Cointelegraph, that Elvira Nabiullina, Governor of the Central Bank of Russia, confirmed that the digital ruble will be launched as planned on September 1st, and is currently "all ready." The digital ruble will supplement the Russian legal tender ruble, initially accepted by financial and credit institutions. Development of this CBDC began in 2021, and the EU preemptively imposed sanctions on the digital ruble in April 2025 in response to Russia's war in Ukraine. Vladimir Chistyukhin, First Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Russia, stated that the relevant laws for the digital ruble will take effect on September 1st, with a transition period until July 2027. In contrast, a US housing bill containing a CBDC ban has been submitted to Trump; if the president does not sign it within 10 days, it will automatically take effect, and the ban will last until 2030.
The Central Bank of Russia will implement incentives to encourage the use of digital rubles for wage payments.
PANews reported on June 25th that, according to [unclear - possibly a website or organization], the Central Bank of Russia announced economic incentives to encourage the use of digital rubles for wage payments. Starting January 1, 2027, commercial banks will receive a 0.67 ruble bonus for each digital payment made by a company to its employees as wages or other labor contract payments, with a minimum bonus of 10 rubles per order. According to the central bank's design, if a company pays digital ruble wages to 10 employees, the bank receives a 6.7 ruble bonus, which the central bank will supplement to a minimum of 10 rubles; if 20 employees are involved, the bonus will be 13.4 rubles. Simultaneously, the central bank has also approved service fees for the digital ruble platform. Starting in early 2027, the fee for each transfer from a company to an individual will be 1 ruble, with a minimum fee of 15 rubles per order.
Russia's largest bank, Sberbank, plans to launch compliant crypto wallets and custody services this year.
PANews reported on July 6th that, according to CoinDesk, Russia's largest bank, Sberbank, plans to launch a cryptocurrency wallet and digital custody vault by December, provided the "Digital Currency and Digital Rights Law" officially takes effect in September. The service will be integrated into the "Sberbank Online" and "SberInvestments" apps, providing customers with access to authorized crypto assets within the banking system. The new law will establish a licensing framework for crypto trading, custody, fiat currency exchange, and cross-border settlement, with a trading limit of approximately 300,000 rubles (about $3,800) per year for non-accredited investors. Other large banks, including VTB and T-Bank, are also preparing related digital custody services.
The Russian State Duma committee recommended that the bill on criminal penalties for digital currencies be passed on its first reading, with a maximum sentence of seven years.
According to Foresight News , citing TASS, the State Duma's Committee on State Construction and Legislation has recommended the first reading of a bill that would stipulate a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment for violating digital currency laws. In April, the Russian government proposed a new clause to the Criminal Code to punish the illegal circulation of cryptocurrency if the crime causes significant harm to individuals, organizations, or the state, or if the perpetrators profit excessively. Proposed penalties include fines of 100,000 to 300,000 rubles, or up to four years of forced labor, or up to four years imprisonment and a fine of up to 80,000 rubles. If the crime is committed by an organized group, or if the damage is particularly significant, the penalty is up to five years of forced labor, or up to seven years imprisonment, and a fine of up to 1 million rubles. The bill proposes that amounts exceeding 3.5 million rubles be considered significant losses or income, and amounts exceeding 13.5 million rubles be considered particularly significant losses or income.