The expansion is contingent on new crypto rules taking full effect and the Bank of Russia permitting the assets for public circulation.
Sberbank plans to accept bitcoin, Ethereum and the Tether stablecoin as loan collateral after the Bank of Russia permits the assets for public circulation and the country’s new crypto rules take full effect.
Anatoly Popov, deputy chairman of Sberbank’s management board, outlined the plan in an interview excerpt published by TASS. He said the bank would adapt its existing products to the new requirements and then expand its range of crypto-backed loans.
Popov separately said Sberbank was seeing demand from businesses, particularly miners and companies for which crypto represents a significant part of their assets. Their main request was to obtain liquidity without selling bitcoin, according to a second TASS excerpt.
Popov also said improved methods for valuing digital collateral could open the product to a broader group of clients.
Sberbank Has Tested Crypto Collateral
Sberbank has previously conducted a pilot transaction using crypto as loan security. In December 2025, the bank made a pilot corporate loan to Russian mining operator Intelion Data, with digital currency mined through the company’s own computing infrastructure serving as collateral, according to Intelion’s account.
The bank used its own crypto storage system and a Rutoken hardware device to safeguard the pledged asset during the loan. Popov said the pilot tested mechanisms for working with digital collateral that could support future regulation and be relevant to miners and other companies that own crypto assets.
The new statement adds a defined prospective asset list — bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether — but ties acceptance of all three to the central bank’s public-circulation decision and the implementation of the new rules.
Direct Regulation Replaced the Experimental Route
The framework behind the proposed expansion is direct regulation, not the experimental legal regime discussed earlier in Russia’s policy process. In December 2025, the Bank of Russia said it had abandoned the experiment because it did not have time to run a trial and then spend additional years developing a permanent system.
The resulting law will take effect Sept. 1. The central bank said the regulated market infrastructure will include existing financial institutions as well as crypto exchanges and digital repositories, and that the requirements for cryptocurrencies will also apply to foreign stablecoins.
Russia will continue to prohibit crypto payments within the country. Market participants have a transition period through July 1, 2027, to obtain licenses and bring their operations into compliance.
Sberbank tied the planned collateral expansion to two conditions: all provisions of the new regulation taking effect and the Bank of Russia permitting bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether for public circulation.
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