Russia’s Largest Bank Eyes Loans Secured by Crypto

Sberbank, Russia’s largest lender, may be preparing a quiet but meaningful move into cryptocurrency finance in a structure that would allow borrowers to use digital assets as collateral inside the traditional banking system.

According to reporting from TASS on December 25, Sberbank is considering launching ruble-denominated loans backed by cryptocurrencies, with comments coming from the bank’s Deputy Chairman of the Board Anatoly Popov.

Popov said the bank is actively studying crypto-backed lending models and is ready to work with regulators to build the required infrastructure. While offering no launch date, he signaled that formal discussions around such transactions could happen soon, in a notable escalation from theory to implementation.

What Sberbank Is Actually Proposing

This isn’t retail crypto trading or custody. Sberbank is looking at something far more structural: using digital assets as collateral for ruble loans, effectively importing a decentralized finance (DeFi)-style concept into a state-regulated banking framework.

Popov acknowledged that crypto regulation in Russia remains at an early stage, but framed that as an opportunity rather than a barrier. The bank, he said, is prepared to co-develop regulatory and technical standards alongside authorities, rather than waiting for a finished rulebook to arrive:

“We are currently exploring the possibilities of lending secured by cryptocurrency. In Russia, regulation of the crypto market is still at an early stage, and we are ready, together with the regulators, to participate in the development of current solutions and create infrastructure for launching such services. Hopefully, we can talk about these kinds of deals soon.”

That posture matters. When a systemically important bank signals it’s ready to build infrastructure and not just test products, it suggests institutional confidence that crypto-backed finance will eventually be normalized, even in tightly controlled jurisdictions.

Why This Matters Beyond Russia

Sberbank’s interest lands at a time when crypto-backed lending is quietly re-emerging globally, but under stricter oversight. Unlike offshore lenders or DeFi protocols, a state-aligned bank mulling crypto collateral brings about a new dynamic: sovereign currency credit tied to digital assets.

The bank’s broader digital asset activity reinforces that signal. Popov noted that Sberbank has already organized more than 160 issuance of digital financial assets this year, including tokenized real estate and oil-linked instruments. Crypto-backed loans would extend that experimentation from issuance into balance-sheet lending.

If implemented, the move would mark one of the clearest examples yet of a major bank treating crypto as usable financial collateral instead of a speculative instrument. That shift, more than the loans themselves, is what could reshape how digital assets are viewed inside regulated finance.

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