Sberbank Advances Crypto-Backed Lending Plans Amid Rapid Growth in Digital Asset Issuance

Russia’s largest lender, Sberbank, is moving closer to launching loans secured by cryptocurrency and said on Friday that it is ready to work alongside the country’s central bank to help develop the regulatory framework required for such products, according to Reuters. The bank has already carried out an initial test of the model, having issued the country’s first bitcoin-backed loan in January to one of Russia’s largest bitcoin mining firms, IntelionData. Sberbank described the deal as a pilot transaction and indicated it intends to expand similar lending activity in the future.

Activity across the bank’s digital financial asset platform has surged significantly. The total volume of digital financial asset issuances reached 408 billion rubles (around $5.3 billion) in 2025, representing growth of 5.6 times compared with 2024, when issuances stood at 73 billion rubles ($948 million), and an increase of 204 times relative to 2023, when issuance totaled just 2 billion rubles ($26 million). Sberbank’s regulated digital financial asset business expanded rapidly throughout 2025, with overall issuance reaching RUB 408 billion ($4.9 billion), more than 5.6 times the previous year’s level. Over the same period, the bank’s own digital financial asset holdings rose sevenfold in six months to RUB 185 billion ($2.2 billion).

Despite the rapid expansion of tokenized finance, Sberbank’s traditional banking operations continue to dominate its balance sheet. As of December, the bank’s corporate loan portfolio totaled RUB 30.4 trillion ($365 billion), while its retail loan book stood at RUB 18.8 trillion ($226 billion). Client deposits reached RUB 33.1 trillion ($398 billion), underlining that digital and tokenized assets, although growing quickly, still represent a relatively small portion of the overall business of Russia’s largest lender.

When unveiling the pilot loan transaction, Anatoly Popov, Sberbank’s deputy chairman, said the bank already provides clients with structured bonds and digital financial assets tied to investments in bitcoin and ether. Popov also said Sberbank is currently experimenting with decentralized finance instruments and supports a gradual legalization of cryptocurrencies within Russia’s legal system.

Elsewhere in the sector, another major Russian lender, Sovcombank, became the first bank in the country to introduce crypto-backed lending to both individuals and companies legally holding bitcoin on Feb. 5. Regulatory developments are progressing in parallel. In December 2025, Russia reopened access to the cryptocurrency market for the public under a new set of rules introduced by the central bank. Authorities expect legislation governing crypto assets to be finalized by July 1, 2026.

Sberbank said its planned cryptocurrency-backed lending program is expected to focus not only on mining firms but also on businesses that already hold cryptocurrency on their balance sheets.

By fLEXI tEAM