- Sanctions and evolving regulation are pushing Moscow’s financial sector toward crypto.
- The service will provide clients with direct, deliverable trades in crypto.
VTB prepares to open Russia’s banking system to spot crypto trading, but only for a narrow group of wealthy clients, as the country tests how far it can use digital assets without unleashing them on the wider public.
According to a Coindesk report, VTB Bank, Russia’s second-largest lender by assets, aims to start offering spot trading in major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether to clients next year. The service will allow direct, deliverable trades and will be the first of its kind from a Russian bank.
The bank plans to restrict the product to “qualified” and “superqualified” investors with portfolios above about $1.3 million or annual income over roughly $650,000.
The move comes as Russia leans on crypto to soften the impact of Western sanctions on its energy exports. Russia, like Iran and Venezuela, has used digital assets as one tool to move value in its oil trade with China and India, worth about $192 billion a year in 2023 and 2024.
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VTB’s Restricted Entry Into Spot Crypto
Once hostile to cryptocurrencies and even considering a nationwide ban, authorities began warming to digital assets after the United States and European Union tightened sanctions in 2022.
VTB’s move would place Russia alongside a small group of banks worldwide that offer spot crypto trading to clients. In July, Standard Chartered became the first large global bank to provide spot bitcoin and ether trading to institutional customers.
Spanish banks BBVA and Santander launched spot crypto services this year, while Liechtenstein’s Bank Frick has provided access to several cryptocurrencies since 2018. Singapore’s DBS Bank also reportedly offers spot crypto trading to its clients, showing how banks in different regions are testing tightly controlled exposure to digital assets.
VTB has a market value near $250 billion and total assets of $410 billion, giving it an outsized influence in Russia’s financial system. The bank says client interest in crypto assets is high and reflects broader global patterns.
