At 00:00 Moscow time on 14.10.2026, the Bank of Russia’s crypto exchange register listed Sberbank as an active organization with the right to conduct exchange activity from 12.10.2026. The entry identifies the legal entity as Public Joint Stock Company Sberbank of Russia and records OGRN 1027700132195 and INN 7707083893.
A separate digital depository register gives Sberbank the right to conduct depository activity from 06.10.2026. The two entries place the bank on both sides of Russia’s new regulated crypto infrastructure: it can act as an exchange organization and maintain records for digital currencies and digital rights.
The entries do not name supported assets, customer groups, fees or a launch date. They establish Sberbank’s regulatory status and the permitted categories of activity. A live retail product still depends on the bank’s service terms and any remaining secondary rules.
What the two registrations permit
The Bank of Russia’s October notice defines the division between these roles. A digital depository may account for digital currencies and digital rights, record their transfer and give customers access to the identifier addresses where those assets are recorded. This is the recordkeeping and access layer rather than a general permission for every crypto service.
An organization on the exchange register may buy and sell digital currencies in its own name and for its own account outside organized trading. That language describes principal dealing. It does not say that the registered entity operates an order-book exchange, acts as an agent for every transaction or has permission to offer lending, staking or derivatives.
Sberbank held depository status before exchange status. The depository file dates its right to 06.10.2026, while the exchange file dates the second right to 12.10.2026. The sequence matters for users because custody-style recordkeeping and principal execution are distinct functions, even when the same regulated bank can perform both.
The regulator first announced the framework on 06.10.2026. At that point, it said five organizations had entered the digital depository register and four had entered the crypto exchange register. Sberbank appears in both files, with each row stating the date on which the corresponding right arose. The registers separate active organizations from entities whose rights have ended, so inclusion in the active sheet is part of the status check rather than a historical mention.
Those records also give users a direct entity check. The Sberbank rows point to sberbank.ru and sberbank.com and identify the bank’s Moscow address. A customer can compare those details with account terms before transferring money or digital assets, rather than relying on a group brand or an unverified trading interface.
The rules around customer access
The registrations sit under the law on digital currencies and digital rights that took effect on 01.09.2026. The Bank of Russia’s explanation of the law says both qualified and non-qualified investors may transact through intermediaries. Non-qualified investors must pass a knowledge test and face an annual purchase limit through each intermediary. Qualified investors must also pass a test, but the regulator says they may access any cryptocurrency without an amount limit.
The same explanation places crypto exchange organizations and digital depositories alongside existing financial institutions in a regulated infrastructure. It also allows transactions through brokers and asset managers, including on organized markets. Investors may exchange cryptocurrency for securities and digital instruments issued under Russian law. Foreign stablecoins are subject to the same requirements as cryptocurrencies.
The customer categories affect how Sberbank can turn registration into access. A non-qualified customer needs the prescribed knowledge test and remains subject to an annual purchase cap at each intermediary. A qualified customer also needs the test, but the regulator does not impose the same amount ceiling or restrict that customer to the most liquid assets. The register does not say how Sberbank will verify either status or administer the test.
Stablecoin treatment is also explicit at the framework level. The Bank of Russia applies cryptocurrency requirements to foreign stablecoins rather than creating a separate access route for them. Sberbank’s registrations therefore do not exempt a stablecoin product from the investor checks, intermediary rules or other restrictions described by the regulator. The bank has not identified any stablecoin in the registry files.
Registration does not turn cryptocurrency into domestic payment money. The Bank of Russia says payment with cryptocurrency inside Russia remains prohibited. Sberbank’s exchange status therefore supports buying and selling within the regulated investment framework, not checkout payments for goods and services.
The law treats cross-border use differently. Exporters and importers may use cryptocurrency for cross-border settlements without restrictions, either through intermediaries or directly, across wallet types and cryptocurrencies. Russian residents may also conduct crypto operations abroad through foreign bank accounts and may transfer cryptocurrency bought in Russia abroad through regulated intermediaries. The regulator says holdings recorded abroad must be reported to tax authorities.
For users, the practical change is a regulated bank counterparty that can combine principal exchange activity with registered recordkeeping. The registry alone does not show whether Sberbank will segregate those functions operationally, which assets it will accept or how withdrawals to external wallets will work. Those terms determine whether the service functions as a closed bank product or as a usable route between bank accounts and public networks.
For brokers, funds and protocol teams, the distinction between the two entries should shape due diligence. The exchange registration supports purchases and sales by Sberbank in its own name and for its own account. The depository registration supports accounting, transfer records and access to asset identifiers. Neither register row supplies proof of lending authority, collateral eligibility, token listing approval or smart-contract integration.
The Bank of Russia’s October notice says registered organizations must follow transaction and accounting rules from the date of inclusion and bring their operations into full compliance by 01.09.2027. The next milestone is Sberbank’s product disclosure. Users still need the supported-asset list, launch date, pricing, custody model and external-transfer policy before the two registrations can be assessed as a working crypto service.
