Largest Russian bank Sberbank set to launch Bitcoin and Ethereum crypto derivatives

Sberbank has come up with another investment option for Russians who want to bet their money on major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum without actually owning them.

The banking giant will pitch its new product to Russia’s young market for digital assets and derivatives that has been growing with the nod of the country’s generally crypto-sceptic central bank.

Sberbank to issue perpetual DFA on BTC and ETH

Russia’s largest bank is launching a perpetual digital financial asset (DFA) based on a basket of the leading cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).

Anatoly Popov, deputy chairman of the management board of Sberbank, made the announcement at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, the TASS news agency reported Friday.

The instrument representing the two coins is intended for qualified investors, he told journalists on the sidelines of the event held this week in the Far Eastern Russian city.

Also quoted by the business news outlet RBC, the banker stated:

Popov further noted that Sberbank is offering a tool that allows Russians to spend rubles on these assets without buying them.

The indirect investment saves them from all the technological risks and complexities of conducting operations on cryptocurrency exchanges, the executive insisted.

The majority state-owned Sberbank, officially Sber, is the biggest bank by assets in the Russian Federation. It was also a leading institution in Central and Eastern Europe, before fallout from the war in Ukraine forced it to pull out of most of the region’s markets.

Since the 2020 rebranding, the Moscow-headquartered banking and financial services company has been developing an array of digital services and standing at the forefront of advancing Russia’s digital finance.

Russia is opening to cryptocurrencies, but not for all Russians

Under heavy Western sanctions, including measures targeting Sberbank and its other major banks, Russia has been gradually opening towards crypto, but in a very limited and controlled manner.

Under a special “experimental legal regime” (ELR), proposed by its conservative central bank, Russian companies can now use digital coins in foreign trade settlements. The arrangement also allows “highly qualified” investors to buy and sell cryptocurrencies.

In May of this year, the Bank of Russia (CBR) authorized financial firms to offer crypto derivatives to this category, and a number of market participants, with Sber taking the lead, were quick to launch different products.

Within a month of issuing its circular, the monetary authority reported that Russian investors had bought $16 million worth of Bitcoin futures.

Aside from that, Moscow has been moving in the direction of banning other circulation of Bitcoin and the like, including by prohibiting their use for payments in the country and discouraging ordinary citizens from acquiring and trading crypto through a series of legislative amendments.

To be recognized as qualified investors, Russian citizens need to prove investments in securities and deposits of more than 100 million rubles (approx. $1.2 million) or annual income from the past year of over 50 million rubles ($600,000).

The high thresholds prompted the Ministry of Finance to recently suggest easing the requirements for entering Russia’s heavily restricted and state-controlled cryptocurrency market. The move would expand the investor base and allow for more adequate testing of all processes, a Minfin official insisted.

Russia is yet to adopt dedicated legislation for decentralized digital currencies like BTC and ETH. The law “On Digital Financial Assets,” which went into force in early 2021, is actually curbing crypto transactions, prohibiting coin payments, for example.

It describes DFAs, such as the one Sber is now launching, as representing “digital rights,” including monetary claims and rights related to issued securities. Until now, it has been mostly applied in the tokenization of various other assets.

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