Sberbank Gets License From Russian Central Bank to Issue, Exchange Digital Assets

The approval comes a short while after the Bank of Russia had advocated for a full ban on the trading and mining of cryptocurrency.

AccessTimeIconMar 17, 2022 at 7:21 p.m. UTC
Updated May 11, 2023 at 4:51 p.m. UTC
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Russia’s Sberbank has received a license from the Bank of Russia to issue and exchange digital assets, just two months after the Russian central bank had advocated for a full ban on trading, mining and using cryptocurrency.

  • Sberbank, the country’s largest retail bank, recently said it was withdrawing from European markets after sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine began hitting Russian-exposed industries, and its Europe-based units were seeing cash outflows.
  • In January, Sberbank applied for a license with Russia’s central bank to issue its own digital token for corporate clients. Sberbank sought to have the digital asset available for the companies banking with it.

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Michael Bellusci is CoinDesk's crypto reporter focused on public companies and digital asset firms.


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