Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, plans to expand its crypto-backed lending program to accept ether ETH$2,449.82 and Tether’s stablecoin $USDT as collateral, alongside bitcoin BTC$78,432.93, once regulators allow the assets to circulate publicly.
The bank will adapt its existing products to Russia’s new crypto rules before gradually expanding the assets it accepts, Deputy Chairman Anatoly Popov told TASS.
The Bank of Russia named bitcoin, ether and $USDT in an August draft list of cryptocurrencies that could trade publicly on Russian exchanges. It selected them based on market capitalization, average daily trading volume and at least five years of price history on foreign platforms.
Sberbank has already tested the model. In December, it issued what it called Russia’s first bitcoin-backed loan to miner Intelion Data, holding the collateral through its in-house custody product. The loan amount was not disclosed.
The bank said in February that it wanted to extend the product beyond miners to other businesses holding cryptocurrency.
$USDT would add a sanctions risk that bitcoin and ether do not carry. Sberbank has faced full U.S. blocking sanctions since April 2022 and an EU asset freeze since July of that year. Tether says it freezes $USDT linked to sanctioned entities, while the Bank of Russia warned in June that stablecoin issuers can seize tokens from lawful owners under unilateral restrictions without a court order.
Russia’s new crypto law takes effect Sept. 1, allowing trading through regulated intermediaries and applying the same requirements to foreign stablecoins. Crypto payments inside Russia remain prohibited, while market participants have until July 2027 to obtain licenses.