Sberbank plans to accept Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether as loan collateral, pending Central Bank of Russia approval under the new digital asset law.
Russia-based Sberbank intends to accept the three digital assets as security for corporate loans, according to deputy chairman Anatoly Popov. The move follows Russia's new digital currency law, signed by President Vladimir Putin on 4 August 2026, which permits crypto assets to be used as collateral while continuing to prohibit their use as a means of payment domestically.
Collateral permitted, payments still restricted
Under the new framework, companies will be able to pledge cryptocurrency to secure financing, but they will not be able to use it to purchase goods or services within Russia. Popov said Sberbank had prepared for the regulatory change in advance and already manages digital assets internally, though he made the collateral offering conditional on further approval from the Bank of Russia, which must first authorise the assets for public circulation.
The Bank of Russia published its initial approved list of eligible cryptocurrencies a week after the law was signed. Only Bitcoin, Ether, and Tether met the regulator's criteria, which included market size, high daily trading turnover, and a minimum of five years of price history on foreign exchanges. The law also includes a carve-out permitting crypto payments for cross-border trade, limited to exporters and importers.
Retail investors face annual limits
The regulatory structure draws a clear line between corporate and retail participation. Non-qualified individual investors are capped at 300,000 rubles, equivalent to more than USD 3,000, in crypto transactions per year per intermediary. However, corporate borrowers are not subject to an equivalent ceiling, a distinction that reflects the elevated cost of domestic financing. Russia's key interest rate stood at 14% as of 28 August 2026, a factor Popov's comments suggest is driving demand among crypto holders, such as miners, who would otherwise need to sell assets outright to access liquidity.
No terms disclosed yet
Popov did not disclose a loan-to-value ratio, interest rate or launch date for the collateral programme, tying implementation to central bank permissions that have not yet been issued. Sberbank previously ran a crypto-backed lending pilot that closed in December 2025, and the bank has stated an intention to launch a digital asset depository by 1 December 2026.
The three approved assets differ materially in volatility. Tether, pegged to the US dollar, traded near USD 0.9999 at the time of reporting, while Bitcoin and Ether continue to fluctuate daily, a distinction likely to influence the cuts applied to each asset under any future lending terms.
Should a borrower default, Sberbank would need to liquidate the pledged cryptocurrency within a jurisdiction where its use in payments remains prohibited.
