Russia’s largest lender, Sberbank, is now launching cryptocurrency payments as a service for corporate clients trading internationally. The move coincides with the enforcement of the law “on digital currency,” which regulates coin transactions in the Russian Federation. Sberbank starts processing cross-border payments in cryptocurrency The biggest Russian bank by assets, Sber, has begun processing cryptocurrency payments for companies engaged in foreign economic activities. The financial services giant made the announcement at the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) held September 1 – 4 in the far-eastern city of Vladivostok. Unlike traditional wires, payments between crypto wallets take only a few minutes, not days, its press service highlighted in a statement for the business news portal RBC. At the same time, the average transaction cost is only 0.3%, which is lower than with traditional transfers, the banking behemoth emphasized, also quoted by the Vedomosti daily. And all documents required for the bank and foreign exchange control are generated automatically during the transaction – another benefit for clients working with partners abroad. Alexander Vedyakhin, first deputy chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank, elaborated further: “For Russian exporters and importers, international settlements in cryptocurrency mean faster payments, new markets, and partners previously inaccessible due to restrictions.” The executive clearly meant Western sanctions imposed over Moscow’s war on Ukraine that have severely limited access to existing fiat channels for Russian firms engaged in foreign trade. It’s widely believed that Russian players, both government and private entities, have been circumventing such measures using digital money. Sber itself is also sanctioned for its role. Vedyakhin reminded that these kinds of operations were first tested under an “experimental legal regime” (ELR) established by the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) in September 2024. In his opinion, this pilot project, which has been running for almost two years, has demonstrated the need for such solutions. “Now that the law regulating cryptocurrencies has entered into force, we expect strong demand for this new instrument,” added the top Sber representative. The legislation, which he was referring to, came into full effect on September 1, legalizing crypto transactions like investment, exchange and trading, as reported by Cryptopolitan. The bill on “Digital Currency and Digital Rights” had been adopted by the Russian parliament in July and signed into law by President Vladimir Putin in early August. While the framework permanently bans the use of cryptocurrency as a means of payment inside Russia, it allows Russian businesses to employ it for settlement in cross-border deals. As far as digital currency payments in Russia itself are concerned, Moscow wants them conducted with the digital ruble , which was launched for public use on Tuesday, too. Sberbank to lend against cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin as collateral The decision to introduce cryptocurrency payments for international settlements was discussed a few days ago by Anatoly Popov, another deputy chairman of Sberbank’s board. Speaking to TASS ahead of the economic conference in Vladivostok, he revealed the feature will become available to users of the SberBusiness app by the end of 2026. He told the state-run news agency the necessary infrastructure had already been created and that the new payment method would be integrated as an option for Sber customers. Popov also said that Sberbank intends to develop lending secured by digital assets, accepting Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Tether’s stablecoin USDT as collateral. The three leading cryptocurrencies in terms of market capitalization and liquidity were recently approved for regulated circulation in Russia by its monetary authority. Sberbank first announced it was considering offering crypto-backed credit in December last year, and then issued the country’s first such loan shortly after, before unveiling plans to scale up this lending. This past summer, it made it clear it’s also going to launch a regulated coin trading platform and a cryptocurrency wallet by the last month of 2026. According to the new law, established players in Russia’s traditional financial market like Sberbank will be able to work with crypto via dedicated divisions under their existing licenses. If you're reading this, you’re already ahead. Stay there with our newsletter .
