Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, is moving toward offering loans collateralized by cryptocurrencies and said on Friday that it is prepared to coordinate with the country’s central bank on setting up the necessary regulatory framework, according to Reuters.
The lender already tested the model in January. The bank issued the country’s first bitcoin-backed loan to one of its largest bitcoin miners, IntelionData, calling the transaction a pilot and suggesting it was interested in issuing more in the future.
The volume of issuance of digital financial assets on the platform reached 408 billion rubles (about $5.3 billion) in 2025, which is a 5.6-fold increase compared to 2024 (73 billion rubles, or $948 million) and 204 times higher than in 2023 (2 billion rubles, or $26 million). dollars).
Sberbank’s regulated digital financial assets (DFA) business expanded rapidly in 2025, with total issuance reaching 408 billion rubles ($4.9 billion), more than 5.6 times the 2024 level, while the bank’s own DFA holdings increased sevenfold in six months to 185 billion rubles ($2.2 billion).
The growth is accompanied by a still dominant traditional balance sheet: in December, Sber’s corporate loan portfolio stood at 30.4 trillion rubles ($365 billion), its retail loan portfolio at 18.8 trillion rubles ($226 billion), and customer deposits at 33.1 trillion rubles ($398 billion), highlighting the relatively small but rapidly growing role of tokenized assets within Russia’s largest lender.
Announcing the test loan, Anatoly Popov, vice president of Sberbank, said that the bank already offers its clients structured bonds and digital financial assets with investments in bitcoin and ether. Popov also said that the bank was currently testing decentralized finance (DeFi) instruments and supports the gradual legalization of cryptocurrencies within the Russian legal framework.
Another major lender, Sovcombank, became the first Russian bank to roll out cryptocurrency-backed loans on February 5 to individuals and companies that legally own bitcoins.
In December 2025, the cryptocurrency market reopened to the public with new rules established by the country’s central bank. Officials hope to complete legislation governing crypto assets by July 1, 2026.
Sberbank said the planned loan program would target not only mining companies but also companies that hold cryptocurrencies on their balance sheets.
